The Spiderwick Chronicles movie version
by ElphieThroppDG28
Summary: The Spiderwick Chronicles movie in book form. Except thrown in is a Field Faerie named Alina - who's fallen head-over-heals for Jared! PLEASE READ THE VERY LAST CHAPTER CONCERNING CHAPTER 21! EVERYTHING WILL MAKE SENSE IF YOU DO!
1. Chapter 1

**The Spiderwick Chronicles (The Movie)**

Hello, everyone! This is my very first fan-fiction ever to be published. I'm a little nervous…but hey! I get like that sometimes.

A little about this story. Well…as I watched the wonderful "Spiderwick Chronicles", I got an idea of adding a new character to the plotline: she's a Field Faerie…and she's in love with Jared! So one of the subplots is about their relationship and stuff.

**DISCLAIMER:** I DO NOT OWN THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES BOOKS OR MOVIE OR ANY OTHER RELATED TITLES. They are the property of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.

I got the dialogue from the movie…I may have added a couple of words or changed around what the characters say…but other than that, exactly like the movie, aside from the additional scenes and epilogue that were mandatory to have (considering I added a new character and all…).

Read on and have fun!

...

Prologue

Okay, there is, like, no need to say much here. I mean, nothing happens except Arthur Spiderwick writes a bunch of stuff in that field guide of his and then I think Mulgarath finds out or something. And then the main title comes on.

Big deal! Nothing interesting happens, unlike in the prologue of Finding Nemo, where the mom and the fish eggs totally get eaten by the barracuda. Anyway, I'm not gonna say much here, cause there's no dialogue and, frankly, like I've said, NOTHING HAPPENS.

...

_Eighty years later…_

_..._

Chapter One

The moon shone brightly as the sad-looking station wagon drove up to the abandoned Spiderwick Estate. The four members of the Grace family looked up at their new house. It was old, obviously, but had a sort of feeling to it that made it seem…almost homey.

"There it is," Helen Grace sighed as she put the station wagon in park. "It's pretty much how I remember it." She laughed to herself. "I was younger than you the last time I was here, Simon," she said, turning to one of her twin sons.

"Well, it's…big," Helen's oldest daughter, Mallory said weakly, trying to sound excited. Helen gave her a warm look. At least she was trying to be helpful.

Simon looked eagerly at the house. "So I can get bigger pets here, right Mom?" he asked.

"Sure!" Helen said. "Get a cow. Get a whole flock."

"Herd," Simon corrected automatically, ever the expert on animals.

"That, too," Helen said, not really paying attention. Her mind had wandered to her other son, Jared, who was Simon's twin. Jared hadn't wanted to move, and she knew that. But she really wanted him to feel comfortable in the new house.

"What do you think, Jared?" she said, turning to face him in the back seat.

Jared hadn't heard a single thing. He had his iPod headphones in, listening to music loud enough to drown out any conversation.

"Jared?" his mother tried again.

Jared didn't acknowledge her.

It was obvious he didn't want any part in talking about the new house.

The other three members of the Grace family got out of the car. As Mallory began to unload the luggage, Helen and Simon opened the front door. Helen shone a flashlight around the entryway. It looked very old and dusty.

Simon's cat began to mew nervously.

"Shh…it's okay…it's okay, Mr. Tibbs," Simon said, calming his cat.

He sniffed the air. "It has that old people smell," he said.

His mother gave him a stern look.

Simon read the signs and decided not to make anything worse. "Just an observation, not a judgment," he assured her.

Helen handed him the flashlight and went to join Mallory.

She reached the car. Jared was still in his seat, listening to his iPod. Helen tapped her fist lightly on the car window a few times. Jared still sat like a bump on a log, either not knowing she was there or ignoring her.

Helen decided enough was enough. She opened the car door and took the headphones out of her son's ears. Jared looked at his mother.

"You're angry about the move," Helen said. "I get that. Just what are you expecting your silent protest will get you?"

Jared looked away and stared at his feet.

"Just acknowledge that this isn't the way to deal with your anger, the way you said you were gonna do," Helen reminded him. Jared was quiet.

She tried to make eye contact. "Say yes with your head," she urged him.

Silence.

"Two blinks."

Silence. Jared looked at her.

"Nothing," she said, finally realizing he wasn't gonna let up. She rustled his hair and sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Mal," she said, addressing Mallory. "You and Simon take your stuff. Wait in the foyer while I go look for the main current breaker."

"Okay, Mom," Mallory said in a sweet voice as Helen walked away. As soon as their mother was out of earshot, she glared at Jared. Mallory could be sweet, but she could be very tough, as well.

"Get out of the car right now," she demanded.

"You're not my mother, Mallory," Jared shot back, plugging his headphones back in his ears. He was annoyed that his sister was trying to be the boss of him-again.

"No, I'm worse," Mallory agreed angrily, "because she doesn't believe in hitting!" And with that, she punched Jared in the arm.

"Ow!" That did it. Jared unbuckled his seatbelt, pulled out his headphones and lunged at Mallory.

Mallory pulled out her fencing sword and smiled smugly. "And he's out of the car! Thank you!" she said triumphantly.

Jared wasn't gonna let Mallory win that easily. He picked up a big stick and started fencing with Mallory.

"Stop it!" Mallory shouted. "I'm not gonna let you keep acting like a jerk!"

"I'll do whatever I want," Jared replied hotly.

"No, you won't!" Mallory told him. "Mom needs this to work, so cut it out!"

Simon was walking to the car at the moment. Jared saw his chance to win the battle.

"Simon, get her!" Jared pleaded his twin.

"I'm a pacifist," Simon replied calmly, walking to the trunk of the car.

Jared rolled his eyes. His twin brother never backed him up.

He turned back to Mallory and was able to ward off a blow from her sword. "You're so annoying," he said. "You think you know everything."

"Well, I know stuff you don't," Mallory said matter-of-factly.

"Like what?" Jared wanted to know.

Mallory just stared at her brother and narrowed her eyes. "Nothing," she said after a few seconds, and walked away.

Jared turned to Simon, who was walking by. "Thanks for having my back, bro," he said sarcastically.

"I don't do conflict," Simon said simply, and kept walking.

Jared felt his anger boil inside of him. He took the stick in his hand and began to whack the car with it. It felt good to release his anger.

All of a sudden, there was a rustle in the bushes behind him. Jared snapped to attention and looked around. Was someone-or something-watching him?

He looked toward the house. The lights had come on. His mother must have found the main current breaker.

The rustling in the bushes continued. He whipped around. There was nothing there.

Jared grabbed his suitcase, shut the trunk of the car and shook his head. He was just imagining things again.

As he stepped inside the house and shut the door, the rustling came to a stop as something came out of the bushes, looked at the house and walked away. The humans were unapproachable.

For now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After Jared reluctantly went into the house, he went up to the room he and Simon would be sharing for…well…he didn't know how long. When he entered the room, he found Simon unpacking his things.

"What are you doing?" Jared wanted to know.

"Uh…unpacking," Simon said, as if it were obvious.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Why? I told you: it's only temporary. Dad's coming tomorrow, and he's gonna take us back with him." Jared smiled at the thought of his dad. He couldn't wait for him to come and visit…and then Jared could finally escape this creepy old house and go back to New York.

"I know that Dad's coming," Simon said, sounding concerned. "But…what about Mom?"

"She can have Mallory," Jared said, emphasizing that he wasn't thrilled with their older sister at the moment.

Simon didn't look that convinced.

"Come on, Simon," Jared said. "We can't stay here. I mean, look at this place. It's the house that time forgot." He picked up a blanket and sniffed it. "Ugh, and it's got that-"

"Old people smell," Simon finished, laughing. "I know."

"And what's this?" Jared asked, speaking more to himself than to his twin as he walked over to the windowsill. He ran his finger along a powdery-looking substance that covered the sill and put it in his mouth.

"Salt," he said, truly amazed. "There's salt. On the window!"

"I know," Simon said. "It's on all the windows."

"Yeah, and that's totally not weird," Jared sarcastically remarked.

"I'm guessing she put it there," Simon said, walking over to a picture that hung on the wall. It was a family portrait of Arthur Spiderwick, his wife, and their young daughter, Lucinda.

"Is that the nut bag and her husband?" Jared asked, joining his twin.

"No. That's Arthur Spiderwick," Simon said. "You know, our great-great-uncle. The little girl's the nut bag. I mean…" He trailed off, not wanting to be rude. "Aunt Lucinda, his daughter. She's the one who lived here before they took her away to the…um…to the…"

"The nut house," Jared finished.

"Yeah…" Simon said. "Right."

"And why'd she get taken there?" Jared asked, knowing full well why.

"Because she said her father was abducted."

"By?"

"By…faeries."

"Exactly!" Jared said, smiling widely. "Our crazy aunt stayed here her whole life and never left. Ever! It's not gonna happen to me. Or you." He walked back to his bed. "End of discussion."

...

Later that night, Simon and Jared sat at the kitchen table, eating their spaghetti in silence.

"Has anybody seen my keys?" Helen asked, walking around the room and stopping at the counter. "I know I left them right here."

She looked up at the shelves full of bottles of honey that lined the walls. "I guess Aunt Lucinda liked honey with her oatmeal, huh?" she asked, thinking out loud.

"And tomato sauce," Simon piped up, referring to the many jars of tomato sauce that they had found.

Mallory stormed in, obviously still in a bad mood. "Where's my fencing medal, Jared?" she asked angrily.

Jared was a bit confused. "Hanging on your bed?" he asked, knowing that was where Mallory usually kept that kind of stuff.

"It's not there anymore," she said, still aggravated.

"Well," Jared said, "find the bed, and you'll find the medal. It's very simple, really."

"I'm not talking about the bed, twerp," Mallory snapped. She thought for a moment. "You know what?" she said, sitting down. "I'm not acknowledging your existence until you bring my medal back."

"Is that a promise or a threat?" Jared asked.

"Well, actually," Simon cut in, trying to prevent a potential fight, "you'd have to acknowledge his existence in order to receive your medal from him."

Mallory gave her brother a nasty look. "Thanks, Spock, you're the pride of the federation."

"Jared," their mother said, still looking for her keys, "give it back."

"I didn't take the stupid medal," Jared said.

"You're such a liar!" Mallory said.

"Conflict…" Simon said quietly.

"Shut up, Simon!" Mallory and Jared hollered at their brother.

"HEY!" Helen shouted, and the three siblings closed their mouths.

After a minute of silence, Helen continued. "We're not gonna do this," she informed her children. "I know it's a new town…a new house…I have a new job…but this is our new life." She made her way over to Jared and hugged him. "Let's not fall into old ruts, okay?"

She sighed. "I know this house isn't perfect…but we can make it work if we want to make it work." She picked up a pan and walked to the sink. "All right?"

"All right, Mom," Mallory said, smiling smugly at Jared.

Jared was about to say something when he heard a yelp behind him. Helen had turned on the faucet, and the water had shot right at her face. She was drenched.

Jared and Simon started to snicker. "Shut up!" Mallory hissed.

As Helen dried herself off with a towel, her cellphone rang. She picked it up. "Hi," she said in a bored tone of voice.

Jared, Simon and Mallory all looked at each other. That tone of voice could only mean one thing: "Dad."

"Yeah, we made it…" Helen was saying. "What's that noise in the background? You know, scratch that. I don't want to know…just…because I don't."

"I'm gonna go look for my medal," Mallory said, getting up.

"I'll help you," Simon said a little too eagerly, following her out of the kitchen.

As soon as they left, Helen held the phone out to Jared. "It's your dad," she said.

Jared smiled and took the phone.

"Hi, Dad," Jared said.

"Hey, buddy!" his dad said on the other end. "How's the Adams' Family mansion?"

"What?" Jared was confused. Then he realized what it meant. "Oh, the house? Yeah…it's great…if you like big, creepy houses in the middle of nowhere."

"Now, come on…"

"Seriously! There's nothing here! You'll see."

"Yeah…" his dad said, a little uncomfortable. "Well…listen-"

"You're still coming tomorrow…right?"

"Yeah, maybe. I'm gonna try…"

"Why maybe?" Jared wanted to know.

"Look," his father said. "Don't worry. I'm coming." He sighed. "There's something we need to talk about. But tomorrow might not work out, okay?"

"Yeah," Jared said, disappointed. "I understand."

"Okay. Good."

"You'll try though…right?"

"Absolutely. But I'll see you soon, though. Definitely."

"Okay."

"See ya, Son."

"Bye, Dad," Jared said. He hung up the phone and looked at his mom.

"What did you say to him?" Jared asked, hurt.

Helen said nothing. She took the phone and started to walked away.

This made Jared mad. "Can't you at least pretend you want him to come and see us?" he yelled after her.

But his mother didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long to post this one. Since I've finished this story, I'll start posting one chapter a day.

Happy reading! -

Chapter Three

Before Jared could say anything more, he heard something running through one of the walls. Thinking it was strange, he went up to the wall and knocked. A knock came from behind the wall.

Jared jumped. There was something in the wall!

He grabbed a broom and, using the handle end, he tapped the wall three times. Three knocks echoed.

Now Jared was officially creeped out. He rammed the handle end of the broom into the wall, making little holes as he chased the thing farther down the wall.

Unfortunately, his mother saw him. "Jared Grace, put that broom down!" she scolded.

Jared looked at his mother. "There's something in the wall."

Helen either didn't care or she hadn't heard him. "Now!" she shouted.

Jared threw the broom down in frustration. Didn't his mother listen to _anything _he said?

Helen shook her head. "You said you were gonna stop hitting things when you got angry!" she said, on the verge of tears. "I know I said I was gonna stop yelling….Please, please don't do this."

As if things couldn't get any worse, Mallory entered at that moment. Jared silently groaned. She must have heard the whole thing and come down to see what was happening.

"We'll clean it up, Mom," Mallory promised. "You go to bed. You need to sleep."

Following her daughter's advice, Helen sighed and began to trudge upstairs.

As soon as she was gone, Mallory wheeled on Jared. "Nice going, pinhead!" she told him.

"Shut up," Jared said. "Something's in there, moving." He was determined to have someone believe him. If his mother didn't, then maybe his brother and sister would.

"Probably a red squirrel," Simon offered. "They're very common in this region, you know. Or it could just be a rat."

Well, whatever it was, it moved. And it freaked Mallory and Simon out!

Despite what his mother had told him, Jared grabbed the broom, but before he could damage the wall any more than he had, Mallory took it from him.

"Uh-uh! No, we don't need any more holes in the wall!" she said.

They were quiet as they followed whatever it was further down the wall. When they reached the end, Mallory tapped the wall, and big chunks of the plaster fell off, creating a big cloud of dust--and a big hole.

Jared looked at the pile, then at his sister. "Great," he told her. "I'll probably get blamed for that!"

The three siblings looked inside the hole. In it was a box with rope attached to it.

"This is one of those things they used to send food upstairs. What are they called?"

"Dumbwaiter," Simon answered.

They looked closer as Mallory shown a flashlight inside. Inside the dumbwaiter were all kinds of knick-knacks, from a doll's head to little buttons to--

"Hey! Those are Mom's keys!" Simon exclaimed, reaching for them.

Mallory reached in and pulled out…her medal.

"Look: it's my medal," she said angrily, showing it to Jared.

"What? You still think I took it?" Jared asked, shocked. "Yeah, Mal, you busted me. I took your medal, hid it here and re-plastered the wall!"

"I don't know how you did it," Mallory admitted. "I just know you did it. Because you always do it. And now--" she pointed to the mess on the floor "--you're gonna clean this up."

"You told Mom that _we_ were gonna clean it up," Jared reminded her, not wanting to do the job alone.

"_We _means _you_," Mallory explained, using her hands to emphasize her point. She handed him the broom and walked away.

Simon was about to follow when Jared stopped him. "Don't you want to see where this thing goes?" he asked.

"Not really," Simon said bluntly, and walked off.

Jared stared after his two siblings.

If they didn't want to see where this thing went, then…he'd have to do it himself.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Grabbing the flashlight, Jared shown the light in the dumbwaiter. The beam of light hit something shiny. He picked it up and found that it was a key embroidered with the letter "S".

The thing moved in the wall again. Jared looked up the elevator shaft to see if he could catch a glimpse of the thing, but it was hopeless.

The only way he was going to figure anything out was to go up the dumbwaiter. So he climbed in and began to hoist the dumbwaiter up.

Half a minute later, Jared came to the top of the elevator shaft. He got out of the dumbwaiter and looked around. He seemed to be in a secret room with no doors or windows.

It looked like a library. There were jars of different creatures sitting on every desk, and there was a filing drawer in one corner. Books were everywhere. And there were a lot of pictures on the wall.

Jared's flashlight beam rested on a picture of a middle-aged man with a skinny face and glasses. He recognized the man to be Arthur Spiderwick. Jared realized that this must have been his secret library.

Jared then found a trunk on the floor. He looked down at the key in his hand. On the trunk was the letter "S"-just like on the key.

He unlocked the trunk and threw open the lid. There wasn't much-just a bunch of old cloth. Just to be sure, though, he dug around in the trunk to see if there was anything else. And there was.

He found a square object wrapped in an old button-down shirt. He unfolded the shirt and inside was an old blue leather-bound book tied with ribbon and a red seal on the front. Under the ribbon was a note.

Jared was about to open the note when he heard the sound of scurrying feet. He looked around the room and saw…nothing.

But there was a note written in the dust on a desk. Jared read it out loud:

_Jared Grace_

_Leave this place_

Just as he read the note, his flashlight, which was lying on a stack of books, began to spin out of control. He grabbed it to stop the spinning, but it didn't seem to stop whatever had been moving it. Jared could hear the thing chasing him around the room until he made it to the dumbwaiter. He began to move it downward into the shaft. Whatever had been chasing him seemed to have given up.

Jared reached the bottom of the shaft and climbed out. He had to tell someone about this.

Someone had to believe him this time.

...

"Simon!" Jared cried, running into their bedroom. "Simon, wake up!"

He began to shake his twin awake. By doing this, he accidentally clunked his brother on the head with the flashlight. "Ow!" Simon said, jerking awake.

"I went up!" Jared said, out of breath and ignoring Simon's pain. "It's a room. A secret room. Upstairs. There's a desk and a chest. And I found this book!" He held up the book before saying, "Something was in there!"

"A red squirrel?" Simon asked hopefully.

"No, not a squirrel," Jared said. "Not unless squirrels can spell. It wrote in the dust on the desk 'Jared Grace, leave this place'."

"Wow," Simon said, and for a moment, Jared was sure his twin was on his side.

Until he heard what Simon said next. Which was: "That's really…impossible."

Simon shook his head. "It's late. Just go to sleep." He lay back down and closed his eyes.

But Jared just couldn't go to sleep. He had to find out what was in the book. He climbed into his bed, turned the flashlight back on and opened the note. On the front was the world _WARNING! _Inside it said:

_Do not dare to read this book_

_For if you take one fateful look_

_You barter at your life's expense_

_And face a deadly consequence_

Jared shrugged and opened the seal and the ribbon. As he did this, the book shook violently, and a jolt of energy was released. Jared swore he could have heard something roaring in the distance.

Despite all that, Jared still opened the book. On the first page was the title: _Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You_.

Before he could get any farther than that, Jared heard the scurrying feet of the thing again. He tried to follow it with his flashlight, but couldn't seem to find it.

He suddenly felt that something was on him. He looked down and saw two of Simon's mice. "What the…?"

Okay. Now _that _was weird.

He got up and put the mice back in their cage. He didn't realize that the thing was peering at him from behind some books.

Jared had had enough of all these sneak attacks, so he climbed into the empty trunk at the foot of his bed. If he couldn't read the book out in the open, then he'd have to compromise.

So Jared opened the book and, without knowing, sealed his fate.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hola, everyone! Thanx for those of you who are sticking with me...don't worry. My OC will be showing up in Chapter 7...until then...enjoy!**

Chapter Five

The first thing after the title was a note from Arthur Spiderwick himself:

_Dear Reader:_

_What you now hold in your hands is the culmination of a life's work, and you will soon see, as I have, that there are fantastical creatures living among us, hidden through mimicry and magic. This book will give you the tools and techniques needed to lift the veil and see the unseen. Once you have this Sight, you will never see things the same way again. _

_But be forewarned: the secrets you are about to learn have been kept hidden for ages; secrets that many of this realm would prefer to stay hidden. The creatures you will meet are truly a sight to behold, and most of them do not like being observed. But, over time, I have garnered their trust; some, I am happy to report, I now call friend. _

_But a rare few are, quite frankly, to be feared. The darker forces of this realm all live in service to one creature: the ogre Mulgarath. _

_The secrets herein are powerful, more powerful than even I was aware. Never before has knowledge of the fantastical realm been assembled in one tome. _

_And so I implore you, dear reader, to use this information wisely, for the ogre Mulgarath seeks this knowledge with relentless persistence. If he were to obtain this information in these pages, I can assure you his intentions would be of the violent sort. He assumes many forms, and so you must constantly be on guard. If you're not…you could very well end up like my friend Gregor, the Field Faerie…may he rest in peace. _

_But what frightens me the most is if Mulgarath were to use this book against Gregor's ward…I don't know what would happen. All I know is, dear reader, that it's up to you to keep his ward--the next Field Faerie in line--safe and out of harm's way. In order to accomplish this task, you must only do one thing: NEVER SHOW THIS BOOK TO MULGARATH. _

_I deeply fear that the more I learn, the more I place everyone around me in grave danger. _

_So, reader: beware. _

_I beseech you: BEWARE._

After that, time seemed to pass quickly. Jared read through the field guide and found out about all kinds of mystical creatures he was never sure existed. He even made it through the sad, sad tale of Arthur's friend, Gregor, who had risked his life to save the next Field Faerie and to make sure she would live (even though she hadn't even existed at the time).

And it was all shattered with a scream.

Jared threw open the door of the trunk as Simon sat bolt upright in bed. Jared realized that the scream was coming from Mallory's room.

The two of them raced down the hallway to Mallory's room. The reason she was screaming was truly a sight to behold: her hair had, somehow, been tied, strand by strand, to the metal headboard of the bed.

"Calm down…just…hold still--" Helen was saying, trying to calm Mallory.

"Please, Mom!" Mallory shrieked over and over. "Just cut it! Cut it out!! Get a scissors, I don't care! JUST CUT IT!!"

The moment Jared and Simon came into the room, Mallory stopped shrieking and gave a bloodthirsty look at Jared. "He ruined my hair!" she screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Get him out of here! He's caused enough trouble!"

Helen's tone abruptly changed from soothing to frustrated. "Jared, you gone way too far this time," she said.

"What?" Jared asked incredulously. "I didn't do this! I've been sitting in a footlocker for the past two hours, reading!"

"Yeah, right!" Mallory said.

Jared looked at Simon. He knew his twin had to pull through for him this time. "Ask Simon," Jared told his mother.

"Well," Simon admitted. "He was in a footlocker."

That didn't seem to help, because Mallory began her shrieking again and Helen had no choice but to try and calm her down.

And that's when it hit Jared.

"The field guide," he said under his breath, and raced back to his room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jared walked out the back door of the house to find his brother and sister fencing each other, and…well…Mallory was winning, obviously.

"I'm not enjoying this," Simon was saying.

"I told you, I'll help you catch a woodchuck or something," Mallory replied. "I need to practice. Now come on."

Jared decided now was the best time to cut in. "Simon!"

Simon turned toward Jared just as Mallory stuck him with her sword.

"That's not fair!" Simon protested. "He distracted me."

Jared ignored this comment. "What does 'appease' mean?" he asked his twin.

"Appease," Simon repeated. "You know…placate…pacify…assuage."

"In English, please," Jared said hurriedly.

"To make nice," Simon said.

"Is that what you came out here to do?" Mallory asked, clearly thinking he wanted to apologize for the previous night's incident. "Well, apology _not _accepted. You're lucky I don't have a bike like those little girls did in that alien movie, or I'd run you over right now!"

"I'm not apologizing cause I didn't do it!" Jared said, once again ignoring the snide remark his older sister had made. "This did." He opened the guide and pointed to a picture of a small creature.

"A brownie is living in the house and wants us to leave," he explained.

"Wow," Mallory said. "That's incredible." She gave Jared a big, fake smile. "You can read!"

Jared rolled his eyes in frustration. "I'm telling you, something is in that house with us and Arthur Spiderwick knew about it and that's why he wrote this guide."

What none of them realized was, at that moment, invisible creatures were lurking in the nearby woods, watching their every move and looking longingly at the guide.

"I'm a little lost," Simon admitted. "Who needs to be appeased? The brownie?"

"No," Jared answered. "A boggart."

"So there's a brownie…and a boggart?" Simon asked a little stupidly.

"A brownie turns into a boggart when it's angry," Jared said in an exasperated tone of voice. "And it got angry when Mallory destroyed its nest."

Jared was silent as he read. "It could have called for backup-"

Mallory gave him a disbelieving look. "The brownie has backup? What's this backup called? The Girl Scouts Brigade?"

"No," Jared said. "Its backup can be anything from a normal sprite to the highly-worshiped Field Faerie, and can be a very large army. The backup can be summoned by the blowing of a kazoo."

"Okay," Mallory said. "This is bizarre."

Jared was silent again for a moment. "It likes honey," he said finally. "That's why all the honey's there."

"Really?" Simon asked, amazed.

"Don't listen to him, Simon," Mallory told him. "Come on. Let's go eat."

...

While Simon and Mallory ate breakfast, Jared set to work building a brand-new house for the brownie/boggart. He found an old birdhouse and stuffed it full of shiny things and other knick-knacks he knew brownies liked. When he was all done, he added a bottle of honey and some saltine crackers.

Jared then took the house up to the secret library. "Hello?" he called. "Hello!"

No one-or no_thing_-answered.

He set it down on a table in the middle of the room.

"I'm sorry I wrecked your house, but I made you a new one."

Silence.

"And I got you some honey," he added, spreading some on a cracker. "I read you liked it. Hope you do. Hope it…you know…appeases you."

He backed away. "I'll be over here," he said, talking about a desk on the other side of the room. "I'm really hoping you actually exist."

So Jared sat and waited.

And waited.

AND WAITED.

_And waited._

_AND WAITED._

Until he fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N

Hey, hey, hey! Here it is! The chapter my OC appears in for the first time!

Enjoy!

-

Chapter Seven

Jared was awakened an hour and a half later by the sounds of squeaking. He opened his eyes and…saw Simon's mice.

Then he heard the crunch of a cracker. He went over to the makeshift house and saw that some of the crackers were gone.

"Hello?" he called.

Jared noticed that the brownie/boggart had left a trail cracker crumbs, so he followed them off the table and onto the floor, until he found a little creature with ears and whiskers of a mouse and clothes like a human.

"This is just tasty, tasty, delicious honey!" the brownie exclaimed. "So good! So yummy, yummy, yummy!"

The brownie noticed Jared and screamed. And so did Jared. Upon hearing Jared's scream, the brownie disappeared and began to scurry away.

"Wait! Come back!" Jared cried, grabbing a bottle of honey and trying to follow where the strange little creature was going. "Here, have some more honey," he bribed.

"I shouldn't, I shouldn't…" the invisible brownie said. "But…if you insist!" he said, grabbing the cracker and wolfing it down.

"Where are you?" Jared asked. "Why can't I see you?"

"You don't see us," the brownie explained, reappearing. "But now you do. But only if we want you to."

"We? You mean all the magical creatures Arthur Spiderwick wrote about?" Jared inquired, showing the brownie the field guide.

"AGH!!" the brownie cried. "The book! I'm sorry, master, I failed! I failed, I failed!"

He began to knock things off the table in his rampage. "Instructions were simple: 'Protect the book'! And I did it, I hid it! I bound it and wound it! I did my best, locked it in the chest!"

The brownie turned to Jared. "But YOU!! You looked and looked and found the book!"

That's when the brownie turned into a boggart, which meant things were beginning to look bad. The boggart began to chuck things at Jared.

"You foolish boy! Idiot! Are you blind?! I put a note right on the cover! Can't you read?!"

He whipped out a bright red kazoo. "You leave me no choice!" The boggart scurried to the window, threw it open, and blew hard into the kazoo. Jared cringed. The backup would be coming.

A few seconds later, loose papers began to float around the room as something invisible with wings landed. "Thimbletack?" a voice asked. Jared guessed that, whatever the thing was, it was a female.

"The book! THE BOOK!!" the boggart screeched.

"Thimbletack!" the voice said sternly. "What did I tell you about getting upset over the little things?" A cracker covered with honey floated in mid-air and was handed toward the boggart. "Please settle down."

The boggart looked at the cracker and then looked--it seemed--at the invisible being. "All right, all right," he said, taking the cracker and turning back into a brownie. "But you--"

"Now, please! I was just beginning to relax in the those really tall stalks of grain--for once! Every day, it's the same with you: something's after the book, something's gonna put us all in danger! And then I have to fly over here about ten times a day, and no danger EVER shows up!" "But--but--" the brownie said, pointing toward Jared.

"But nothing!" the voice said. "I want you to promise me that you won't do any more false alarms! I know I'm not that old, but my wings aren't that experienced! The poor things are getting worn out."

"Okay, okay!" the brownie conceded. "But Alina! Look behind you."

The being turned around and let out a scream. "A HUMAN!! OH, WOW!!" she cried, and from the looks of it, she hid behind the table.

"Alina! Don't do this!" the brownie scolded. "You'll have to be brave for the both of us!"

All that answered was some whimpering.

He looked at Jared. "Well, YOU scared her!" he yelled. "DO SOMETHING!!"

"Me?!" Jared cried. "Why can't you?! I've hardly known her for two minutes!"

"She gets like this sometimes, and I can never handle it!" the brownie said, exasperated. "Maybe if _you_--the human who scared her--apologized, she'd come out!!" "All right, okay!" Jared said. He wasn't sure what kind of faerie this thing was--but he hoped he could get whatever it was to come out.

He looked to where he guessed the creature was. "Um…hi," he said, then scrunched up his face when he realized how lame that sounded. "Uh…I'm really sorry I scared you. Your friend here was scared of me, too…but you kinda knew that already…"

"If this is supposed to be helping me," the voice said, "IT'S NOT!!" Then she started to cry.

"It's okay, it's okay" he said in a calming voice. "I won't hurt you. Just please come out. I promise, I won't do anything to you."

"You…promise?" the voice asked from behind the table.

"Yes," Jared said. "I'd never do anything to hurt you or Thimbletack or any other faerie. Now please…come out."

Whatever he had said worked, because the next thing he knew, he saw a medium-sized set of wings, a smooth shock of red hair, and the most beautiful blue eyes popping up from behind the table.

At that moment, Jared understood what exactly this creature was: she was a Field Faerie. The most powerful faerie that existed. And he got to witness, firsthand, what one actually looked like!

Jared had to admit, this was truly amazing. He didn't think it would be possible to see a Field Faerie in his lifetime. They usually kept themselves hidden from humans…but this one must have been an exception.

"Wow," she breathed, taking him in. "Thimbletack, why didn't you tell me there was a human in here sooner?"

"I did," the brownie said, slapping his own face in frustration, but the Field Faerie didn't seem to notice. She seemed to be staring at Jared--a lovelorn look in her eyes.

Jared began to feel uncomfortable. "Um…Thimbletack?" he asked. "What's wrong with your friend?"

"You idiot!" Thimbletack said. "Have you or have you NOT read that book?! Let's see…she's met a human…been spooked out of her wits…put her trust in him…yep, it's hopeless!!"

"Wait, what's hopeless?" Jared asked.

"Can't you see?!" Thimbletack shouted, as if it were obvious. "SHE LIKES YOU!!"

"WHAT?!" Jared was totally confused. How could the most powerful, fantastical creature in the invisible world be in love with some boring old, troublemaking human boy like himself?

It just didn't make any sense.

But, apparently, it did to her.

"You know," she said. "I've never really been friends with a human before." She giggled. "Well, if you didn't catch my name before, I'm Alina."

Thimbletack cleared his throat rather loudly, and Alina continued in a bored tone of voice. "Fine. I'm Alina…the one and only Field Faerie for the next one hundred human years. But technically it's only for the next eighty-six, considering I would be fourteen right now if I were a human--"

"That's great!" Jared said quickly, not really seeing where this was going. "Um…so, what exactly did I do wrong when I read the book?"

Alina stared at him. "You read the book?"

Thimbletack began to change into a boggart again. "Yes, he read the book!!"

Jared cringed again.

Even if he didn't know where this was going, he didn't like it at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hola! Hope you're enjoying the story! Cause it'll get a litte more intense...**

**-**

Chapter Eight

"THIMBLETACK!!" Alina shouted, and all was silent. "How many times must I tell you NOT to lose your temper?!" She gave him another honey-covered cracker, and he settled down and turned back into a brownie.

"And they say I've got anger issues," Jared said to himself.

"'Protect the book. Don't let it get took!'" Thimbletack said.

"Right, right! Protect the book!" Jared said quickly, not wanting Thimbletack to get out of hand again. "I got that part. Who told you to protect the book?"

Thimbletack thought for a moment, then disappeared and began scurrying away.

"Protect the book! Protect the book!" he repeated.

"Wait!" Jared called. He turned to Alina. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, silly!" she said, smiling widely. "This is how he communicates sometimes."

"It wasn't complicated. I just had to protect the book. That's all!" Thimbletack said to himself.

"Oh, no," Alina said, rolling her eyes. "He's talking to himself--again."

Thimbletack reappeared next to the portrait of Arthur Spiderwick.

"Arthur Spiderwick," Jared said, understanding. "So he wrote it and asked you to protect it."

"I said, 'Master, we must destroy it!' He said, 'We must protect the book. Keep it in the circle, safe from the ogre.'"

"Ogre?" Jared asked. "Do you mean…uh…Mulgarath?"

Thimbletack nodded. "All the years protecting it and now ruined by a little twit!" He began to agitatedly draw a circle in the dust on the desk. "Circle, circle, jerkle. Little jerkle broke the circle."

"Whoa! Stop!" Jared said. "What circle?"

Thimbletack swung on a string over to the window where Alina had flown in. "Look," he beckoned, pointing outside.

Alina and Jared hurried over to the window. Thimbletack was talking about the circle of toadstools that surrounded the house.

"Wait," Jared said. "I read about that. The Protective Circle. So the Protective Circle protects the book and keeps all other faeries out." He looked at Alina, his brow furrowed. "How come you can pass through it?"

"I'm a Field Faerie," she said simply, her wings moving up and down a bit. "I can get through any sort of magic."

"Safe in the circle, safe in the circle," Thimbletack said.

"Safe from who?" Jared asked.

Thimbletack pointed. "Them!"

Jared looked out the window and saw nothing. "What? Who's them? I don't see anything."

At that moment, Simon walked outside and started calling for his cat. He walked right out of the Protective Circle.

"Well," Alina said, looking away. "That wasn't the smartest thing to do, now was it?"

Jared sighed. "All right," he said, annoyed. "What did you do with Simon's stupid cat?"

"They're not here for the cat!" Thimbletack explained. "They want the book!"

At that moment, something invisible grabbed Simon's legs. Simon started to scream.

"What is that?" Jared asked, worried. "What's out there?"

"It's goblins!" Thimbletack yelled, turning into a boggart. "Goblins are here! And all because you took the book out there and practically waved it in there faces, you little twerp!"

Whatever was holding Simon started to drag him into the woods.

"SIMON!!" Jared yelled.

"Go ahead!" Thimbletack said angrily, throwing a rock with a hole through the middle at Jared. "Now look at the mess you've made!"

"Simon! They're taking him away!" Jared cried. "What's happening?" "The Stone! The Stone!" Thimbletack said.

"Look through the Seeing Stone!" Alina explained. "It helps humans see the unseen."

Jared picked up the stone and peered through the hole. He could see Simon getting pulled away by stout, vicious-looking creatures.

"What the hell?" Jared said under his breath. He grabbed the book and was about to go outside.

"Oh, no!" Thimbletack shouted, grabbing the other end of the book. "No, no, no!! The book stays or we all die!"

"I need it!" Jared insisted, pulling back. "Let go!"

Jared pulled the book free and swatted Thimbletack, causing the boggart to fly against the wall. He grabbed the Seeing Stone and made a run for it.

"It must stay in the circle!" Thimbletack repeated.

"Thimbletack," Alina said to her friend. "I know this is betraying your trust, but…I'm going with him!" With that, she flew out the door and followed Jared down the hallway.

"Mom!" Jared cried. "Mom!" His mom had to be home. She needed to help him save Simon!

He spotted Mallory and ran to her. Alina quickly made herself invisible.

"Have you seen Mom?" Jared asked.

"She went to work, okay?" Mallory said. "She put me in charge."

"Ugh!" Jared bolted to the door, and held it open long enough for both him and Alina to quickly slip through.

"Hey, where are you going?" Mallory called after him. But all that answered was the slam of the door.

"Psycho," Mallory said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, everyone!**

**Just a note I should have put in at the beginning: CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IN THE REVIEWS/COMMENTS ONLY, PLEASE. I don't take heed to any flat-out "you suck" notes...and they make me crabby. So, please...if you don't like something, let me down gently. I'd grately appreciate it.**

**Thanx! )**

Chapter Nine

Jared and Alina flew through the woods, following the sounds of Simon's cry for help. They passed a dead tree, crossed a stream, and climbed up a steep hill before they reached Simon.

He was being held hostage in a goblin camp. A fire was going as the goblins danced around it, roasting some kind of animal. Jared and Alina quickly found a tree to hide behind, and safely watched the goblins' strange ritual.

After watching what seemed like the head goblin insult the others for not giving him the leg of the animal, the two finally spotted Simon in a cage hanging from a branch of the tree.

"Oh, my God," Jared said. "Simon."

"This is completely barbaric!" Alina hissed. "What kind of creatures keep innocent faeries--and humans--in cages?"

"Apparently they do," Jared said, hating to be right.

They backed away from the scene, trying to think of a plan. Jared backed into another cage.

"Don't move!" came a voice from the cage.

Jared and Alina both jumped.

"Slowly lift your foot," the voice instructed Jared. Jared did as he was told, noticing a rope on the ground. A bird hopped to the rope and was caught in it as whatever was in the cage reeled the rope in. The creature quickly stuffed the bird in his mouth.

Jared, clearly frightened, was about to run off.

"Wait! Don't go out there!" the creature in the cage begged, holding onto Jared's sleeve. "They'll see you!" The creature considered for a moment. "Wait. Are you with them or with me? Who's side are you on?! State your side!" "Your side," Jared said.

"Then we must shake on our alliances," the creature said, picking his nose and holding the booger-covered hand out to Jared.

Jared cringed.

"What? It's good," the creature insisted, shaking Jared's hand. "Come on! You two, Carrot Top," he said to Alina, who grimaced as she shook the creature's hand.

"Who are you?" Jared asked.

"I am Hogsqueal!" the creature stated proudly. "And I am here on a mission to destroy the ogre, Mulgarath, who killed my family!"

"You're a hobgoblin," Alina said, clearly not impressed.

"Oh, and I should be bowing to you, Miss I'm-The-Great-Field-Faerie?" the hobgoblin shot back.

"Hey!" Alina said defensively, tears starting to well up in her eyes for the second time that day. "No one ever asked me if I wanted to be in this position, did they? Do you think I wanted to be born this way?!"

"Okay, okay!" Hogsqueal said. "No waterworks, please!" He shook his head. "What's with women, anyway? You say one wrong thing, and they go off and cry a river!"

"Alina," Jared said, trying--and succeeding this time--to calm his friend down. "It's okay, it's okay. He didn't mean it." He turned back to Hogsqueal. "Can you help us save my brother?" he asked. "Please?"

"Yeah! Sure!" the hobgoblin agreed. "I was gonna suggest that, right after you let me out of this cage! So come on! Free me!"

"All right!" Jared said, unlocking the cage and freeing Hogsqueal, much to the dismay of Alina.

"Now the two of you get behind me and keep your mouths shut! And, yes, this applies to you, Your Highness," he added, poking fun at Alina.

"Call me that again, and you're stardust," she said.

The three peered from behind the tree.

"Okay, here's our plan," Hogsqueal explained. "I will find a safe position over there and create a distraction with my stick. Then you leap out with your knife and magical skills and finish the beast yourselves! I like that plan! That's a good plan! I'm smart."

They ducked behind the tree again, Alina rolling her eyes at Hogsqueal's arrogance. "What beast?" Jared asked, confused.

"The ogre, Mulgarath, of course!" Hogsqueal exclaimed.

"We just want to rescue his brother," Alina told the hobgoblin.

"Again with the brother?" Hogsqueal asked. "Okay! Fine! If we kill them, saving him will be much easier. Trust me! Now drop that stone! You'll need both hands to choke a goblin."

Jared obeyed. "But how do I see without--"

Before he could finish, Hogsqueal spit in his eyes. Jared jumped back, trying to clear the saliva out of his face.

"I have given you the Sight!" Hogsqueal told him. "A gift only a hobgoblin can bestow!" "Gross," Jared said. But he did have to admit that it worked.

"You're welcome," Hogsqueal said. "Now, let's go!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Once again, Jared and Alina found themselves poking their heads out from behind the tree. In the cage, Simon had started to cry as he watched the goblins fearfully.

"Simon!" Jared said, getting his twin's attention.

"Jared!" Simon said, surprised. "Oh, my God…oh, my God…" He looked right at Alina, who had forgotten to make herself invisible. "Oh, my God."

"Shh!" Alina said. "Please don't make any noise."

"Jared, what's happening?" Simon asked. "Get me out of here." He looked at Alina again. "Who's that? Is she here to hurt me?"

"No, no," Alina said, trying to calm Simon down. "I'm here to help, okay? It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay."

"Just hang on," Jared said, getting out his pocketknife. "I'm gonna cut you out."

He was about to start sawing at the ropes when the cage started to lower, moving away from Jared and Alina.

"Jared!" Simon cried.

Jared and Alina were about to go after him when Hogsqueal pulled them back. "Get back!" he told them.

"Jared!" Simon called again.

The goblins had become quiet except for a chant that grew stronger with every beat. "Mulgarath. Mulgarath. Mulgarath," they repeated in time.

Jared looked at Hogsqueal. "What are they doing?"

"Summoning Mulgarath," Hogsqueal answered. "Get ready!"

The goblins continued their strange chant. A pile of leaves nearby began to dance in circles as something far away roared. And out of the pile of leaves came…a hunched-back old man with a cane.

Obviously, Jared and Alina weren't very impressed.

"That's Mulgarath?" Jared asked, confused.

"So…let me get this straight," Alina said. "That's the ogre you're all so worried about? That old dude out there?" She screwed up her face in confusion. "_That_ is the supposed hunter whose supposed to want to drain me of my magic?"

"Don't be fooled by what you think you see," Hogsqueal warned them. "That's just what he wants."

The old man approached Simon, who was still in the cage. "I beg your forgiveness," he said, sounding as feeble as he looked. "I asked my friends here to invite you to a nice little meeting. Then they got a bit…uh…overzealous. That's a goblin for you. My apologies."

Simon didn't say anything in reply. He just looked at the old man, trembling with fear.

"What do you want with me?" he finally asked.

"It's not what I want _with _you," the old man explained. "It's what I want _from _you. Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide. I know you found it."

Simon looked up at Jared, who had been peering out from behind the tree. He quickly went behind it and began to breathe heavily. He knew that things were starting to look bad.

"That's right," the old man continued. "You can simply walk back the way you came. Just give me the book."

"I don't have it," Simon said. "I don't. Look." He patted his pockets to prove his point.

Apparently, it didn't convince the old man. "Search him!" he commanded his goblins.

"What?!" Hogsqueal exclaimed. "If Mulgarath learns the secrets in that book, he could kill us all!" He thought for a moment. "He's weak in his human form. It's now or never. Come! Death to the Ogre!!"

Unfortunately, a bird flew by at that moment.

"BIRD!!" the hobgoblin exclaimed, chasing after it. "Delicious! Come back here!"

He turned to Jared and Alina. "I'll be back!" he assured them. "Kill him, if you get the chance! Remember the plan!"

"Ugh!" Alina said. "Leave it to a hobgoblin to come to our rescue!"

The two turned back to the action going on under the tree. Simon had been let out of his cage. Two of the goblins had begun to search Simon.

"This is all we found," one said, handing the old man a few pennies, a gum wrapper and a picture of Simon, Jared and their father.

The old man held up the picture. "Do they have the book?" he inquired Simon. Jared and Alina held their breath.

"No," Simon said. "But I know where it is. "I'll go get it for you. I swear."

"I'm placing my trust in you," the old man said, putting a hand on Simon's shoulder. "If you give me the book, your life will go on as if nothing ever happened. However, if you fail, I'm afraid I'll have to find somebody else to get my book for me."

The goblins growled. Simon began to back away.

"Go on," the old man urged. "Run along."

Simon looked up at the tree. Jared mouthed for Simon to go while Alina nodded vigorously. Simon nodded and ran.

Jared and Alina breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. The old man began to change. He grew horns and his skin turned a dark yellow color. "Mulgarath! Mulgarath!" the goblins chanted.

Jared and Alina both leaned against the tree, their eyes closed and their breathing becoming irregular. They had no idea that they were shoulder to shoulder and could feel each other's heart beats race faster and faster.

"You failed me, Red Cap!" Mulgarath bellowed in a low voice.

"There are two human boys with the same face!" Red Cap, the goblin leader, explained. "The Jared…and the Not-Jared." He finally understood. "We took the wrong one."

"Then find the Jared," Mulgarath commanded, "get the book, and kill them! Kill them all!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Hola! Sorry it took so long to post this chapter...I've been busy with school and stuff.**

**But...here it is! Enjoy!**

**-**

**Chapter Eleven**

Simon crossed the stream and was headed home when an arm grabbed his face and dragged him into the brush. It was Jared.

As soon as he realized this, Simon began to wrestle with his brother. "Stupid! Stupid! You're stupid!" he said, frustrated. "Those things are gonna kill me over your stupid, stupid book!"

Alina was able to wegde her arms between them and break up the argument. "Knock it off!" she said. "If you keep fighting like this, they'll hear you!"

"She's right," Jared said. "They're right over there. And if you keep screaming like an idiot, we're toast."

Simon punched him in the arm. Hard. "Ow!" Jared said.

"Jared, where are your manners?" Simon asked his brother when he realized Alina had been watching them wrestling like idiots. "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?" He took her hand. "My apologies, miss," he said, kissing it. "I'm much more refined and behaved in…less stressful situations."

Alina pulled her hand away. "All right…I think we should be introduced now…" she said urgently to Jared.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Simon, Alina. Alina, Simon. There. We're all aquainted now."

"Are you a real faerie?" Simon asked.

Alina gave him a sarcastic look and fluttered a few inches off the ground. "What gave you your first hint?" she asked.

But Simon didn't answer, and Alina was horrified to see that all-too-familiar look she had given Jared earlier in the day.

"Jared?" she asked, hiding behind him. "I think your brother's broken."

"Simon!" Jared snapped, literally snapping his brother out of it. "Stop scaring her. Please."

Simon shook his head. "I can't take this. Let's just get to the house and give them the book."

"It's not at the house," Jared said, pulling the book out of his backpack. "It's right here."

"What? Then let's just give it to them!" Simon said, once again wrestling his brother.

"No!" Jared insisted. "They'll just kill us, anyway!"

"Well, let's just give it to them!" Simon said.

"No!"

"Give it!" They wrestled into the path of the goblins, Simon holding the book up for them to see.

"Book!" Red Cap exclaimed.

"You guys!" Alina said, pulling them up. "Was that really necessary?!" She looked at the goblins, who were staring at her with a blood-thirsty look in their beady black eyes. "Oh, snap," she said.

"What?" Simon asked. "Oh, I get it. The creepy goblins like her, too?"

"No!" Jared said. "They hunt her kind for their magic."

"GET THEM!!" Redp Cap commanded.

Jared, Simon and Alina took off as the goblins followed them in hot pursuit. They ran--and flew--the rest of the way home and almost made it to the circle when Simon was grabbed by the leg.

"AGH!!" he cried as one of the goblins bit his leg.

Jared threw the book on the porch and ran to help his brother.

"JARED!!"

Jared and Alina pulled Simon into the protective circle, away from the goblins.

"Keep them away!" Simon babbled. "Keep them away!" "Calm down," Jared said. "It's okay. There's a protective circle around the house. We're safe inside it."

"There you are," Mallory said, coming out of the woods. "You know, Mom left me in charge, so you can't just run off without telling me."

The goblins advanced on her like flying monkeys.

"Oh, look," Mallory said, eyeing Alina. "You guys already made a girlfriend! You know, you might wanna tell her Halloween is next month."

"Mallory!" Jared said, ignoring her rather rude comments and throwing rocks at the goblins. "Get in the circle!"

"Don't yell at me!" Mallory said, annoyed.

"Run to the front door!" Jared told her. "Fast!"

"I'm not running anywhere. And stop throwing rocks at me!"

"Listen to him!" Simon yelled. "You're surrounded by goblins! Get inside the Protective Circle!"

"Oh, God, Simon, he's got you in on this now?"

"It's true!" Alina said, not sure how this was helping. "They're gonna attack you any second now!"

"Oh, I get it! You guys are playing make-believe! That's why your little friend is dressed like that! Ha, ha. Not funny, guys! You're a little too old to be playing games like that! For the last time, there is no such thing as--"

Just at that moment, the goblins started scratching at her, ripping the sleeve of her shirt and part of her pants.

"What's happening?!" Mallory cried as she swung her sword around, trying to knock down the goblins.

"No, Mallory!" Jared said. "They're short! Aim below your knees!"

Mallory began to do so, and she found that a sticky green goo appeared on her sword every time she hit one.

"Here! Look through this!" Jared pulled the Seeing Stone out of his pocket and tossed it Mallory's way. She caught it and began to see the goblins for the first time.

"AGH!!" With the help of the Stone, Mallory was able to take out most of the goblins--and Red Cap's left eye. Jared finally pulled her into the Protective Circle.

"Come back! You're safe! You're safe!" he said.

He looked at his siblins. "Now do you believe me?"

They both nodded their heads.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Mallory and Jared helped Simon into the house. Alina would have helped, but after a few seconds of taking in that the Invisible World actually existed and realizing exactly what she was, Mallory refused to have Alina go anywhere near Simon or Jared, despite what the two of them said. So Alina made herself invisible and silently followed them inside the house.

"It's gonna be bad! It's bad!" Simon said as Mallory and Jared set him down on the foot of the stairs. Mallory pulled his pant leg up to reveal a very swollen goblin bite.

"Oh, God…" Mallory said.

"That's bad," Simon agreed.

"Jared!" Mallory cried as Jared came in with some bandages. "What were those thing?"

"I told you, goblins!" he replied in an exasperated tone.

Jared opened a bottle of alcohol and poured it over the bite.

"It's gonna be okay, Simon," Mallory assured him.

Simon wasn't listening. He was too busy screaming and writhing in pain to listen to anyone.

"It's not okay!" Simon screamed. "It's not!"

"He's right!" Mallory said. "What am I saying? Of course it's not!" She turned to Jared. "How many of those things are out there?"

"I don't know! Okay?" Jared answered. "Sit tight! I'll be right back!" He ran up the stairs.

"Jared!" Mallory hollered. "Oh, God, he's gonna get us all killed!" She put a towel over Simon's wound. "Keep pressure on that!" she instructed. "I'll be right back!"

"Pressure? What?" Simon asked, confused as Mallory ran up the stairs.

Alina made herself visible as soon as Mallory was gone. Simon jumped.

"You scared me a there for a minute!" he said.

"Yeah," she said. "I have that effect on people." She slowly approached his leg.

"What are you doing?" he asked a little too loudly. She put a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up, please!" Alina said. "I'm not gonna hurt you!" She took the towel off his leg. "I'm gonna try and fix this."

"You're gonna do what?" Simon whimpered.

"Well, Field Faeries-which would happen to be yours truly-have a special job, and that's to keep the peace within the Invisible World," Alina explained. "And, along with that, we have healing powers, too. Each Field Faerie has his or her own unique source of power. Mine is starlight."

"Wait," Simon said. "If it's starlight, doesn't that mean it won't work unless it's nighttime?"

"Well…" Alina admitted. "Not necessarily. It just won't be as effective. I'll probably to be able to partially heal this. But on the bright side, you'll be able to walk."

She put her hand on the wound and focused all of her power on it. Her hands began to glow a pale yellow.

"Hey," Simon said. "I think it's working!"

Indeed it was. Alina had begun to sweat a little, but she didn't let that bother her. She wasn't going to stand by, letting everyone think she was incapable of using her magic. By healing Simon's wound, she was going to prove that she could do much more than fly around, looking pretty.

"Are you sure you got this?" Simon asked.

"Are you kidding?" Alina asked, panting a little. "It's fine." She didn't mention that her hands had begun to burn or that she felt very, very weak.

All to soon, Alina let go. It had worked. Simon didn't feel much pain anymore.

However, Alina did. She keeled over and began to breathe heavily.

"Uh-oh…" Simon said.

...

"Why are they doing this?" Mallory asked as she and Jared thundered up the stairs. "What do they want from us?"

"The book!" Jared answered.

They threw open the door to the roof and went out on the landing. Far below, goblins from far and wide had gathered around the house, all for the same purpose.

"Oh, God," Mallory said, looking through the stone. "They're coming from everywhere!"

"I know," Jared told her. "I can see them."

"This can't be happening," Mallory said, more to herself than to Jared. "This can't be happening! Where did you get that book?"

Jared led her to the secret library and showed her the chest, explaining what had happened.

"So the book was in here with a big warning on the cover that said 'Do not read'," Mallory said, understanding. "And you read it?"

"It's a book!" Jared said defensively. "I didn't think reading it would unleash goblin fury, okay?"

"But that's the thing!" Mallory told him. "You never think! You never think of anything!"

"JARED! MALLORY! HELP!" Simon called.

"Oh, great!" Mallory exclaimed. "One of those creepy goblins probably got into the house!"

But when they got downstairs, they were very surprised by what they found. Simon was on the floor, hugging his cat. And beside him was Alina, on her knees, breathing very heavily.

"How did she get in the house?" Mallory screamed. "I thought I told her not to come near you two-"

"What's wrong with her?" Jared asked, frightened. "Why does she look like that?"

"She tried to fix the bite on my leg. It worked…sorta. But then she started to act all funny and her color started to fade and I didn't know what to do…!"

"Oh, God," Mallory said. "She probably has rabies or something!"

"No, she doesn't!" Jared said, getting defensive again. "She overdid it trying to fix Simon's leg. She's a juvenile Field Faerie, and their magic isn't that strong. They're not supposed to use it in large quantities at a time, and if they do…the results could be disastrous."

Alina continued to breathe heavily.

"Is whatever she has contagious?" Mallory asked, backing away.

"No," Jared answered, "but she's not in a very good position right now. If we don't do something quick…" Jared froze, fearful of what he said next.

"If we don't act fast…she's going to die."


	13. A NOTE FROM ME

Hey, hey, hey! It's moi! I'm sorry I haven't been updating anything lately. I've had a HUGE amount of homework this past week. And, what do you know, I STILL haven't finished it all (but I'm close...very, very close...)!

Anyway, more of the Spiderwick Chronicles will be posted sometime over the next couple of days. Unlike August Rush, I don't need to change anything, so posting this story will be a bit quicker.

Until then…happy reading!

-ElphieThroppDG28


	14. Chapter 13

_A/N _

_Hola! Sorry it's taking so long to post everything! I'm doing the best I can. But the good news is this week I have, like, three days of school! Yay! Then I can work on posting more of this story (and also having my friend proofread some more of August Rush)._

_So, until then...happy reading! )_

**-**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Jared's mind began to race as he tried to remember everything he ever read about Field Faeries. There had to be something--anything--that could save Alina.

"Okay, so if she wasn't supposed to be…unleashing her magic or whatever," Mallory asked as Jared sat, thinking, "why'd she do it?"

"I think it's because she wanted to show everyone what she's capable of," Jared said. "She doesn't want anyone thinking she's not strong enough to do things."

He turned to face Alina, who was breathing slower but heavier and heavier all the time. She looked at him.

"Jared…" she managed to choke out. "I'm…sorry…"

"I know, I know," he assured her. "It's gonna be okay."

Mallory had gotten over the initial shock of a faerie being in the house and had dragged Simon and Mr. Tibbs a little ways away from the scene. She somehow knew that Jared had developed a special relationship with this particular faerie, and that he needed to fix this on his own.

And then she'd kick her out.

"Jared…" Alina choked.

Jared suddenly realized that there wasn't anything he or anyone else could do. Alina was going to die. He had to accept that this was how things had to happen.

But that didn't mean he couldn't cry over it.

"Shh," Jared said, hugging her, tears rolling down his face. "You're gonna be okay. I'm not gonna let anything happen, okay? You're safe." Even as he said those things, he knew it was hopeless. But as long as he kept Alina calm, then that was enough for him.

He let go and looked at her. "You're fine," he said, not really meaning it. "You're going to be all right." Two of his tears fell and landed on her hands.

Suddenly, the color rushed back to her cheeks. She became like her old self instantly.

"Oh, my God…" Jared said, surprised.

"Whoa," Mallory and Simon said.

"Wow…" Alina said, suddenly feeling much better. "You…saved my life!" She hugged him. "Oh, Jared Grace, you're a lifesaver!!"

"Wait," Jared said as he pulled away, not getting it. "How…?"

"Something humans don't know about themselves," Alina said, tearful herself. "Their tears have healing powers. But only if they're shed out of love."

There was a moment of silence. But it went as quickly as it came.

"Now that she's okay," Mallory said, hastily going over to Jared, "I think it's time she left--"

"WHAT?!" Jared and Simon exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah!" Alina said indignantly. "I don't wanna go!"

"It's obvious that she's going to be fine!" Mallory said, trying to push Alina towards the door. "So now she has to leave! I don't want anything to do with all this faerie crap!"

"She's not going anywhere!" Jared said, putting himself between Alina and Mallory.

"What's wrong with you?!" Mallory shouted. "You're always doing this! You never listen!"

"Yep, you're right," Jared said sarcastically.

"You don't think! You just do!" "Maybe I could think if you stopped talking!"

"You do stuff, and we pay for it!" Mallory told him.

"Hey! Here's a novel idea," Jared said. "If you're so smart, what do you think we should do with the book?"

"If the freaky goblins want this book, I say we give it to them!" Mallory answered.

"NO!!" Thimbletack shouted, sliding down the banister. "Back off! The book stays in the house!"

He turned to Alina. "ALINA! What did I tell you about using your magic?!"

Alina bowed her head in shame. "I'm not supposed to use it unless there's an emergency. But there was! Simon's leg--"

"--would have healed anyways!" Thimbletack growled. "I am so disappointed in you right now!"

"AGH!!" Mallory began to try and squash Thimbletack with her foot.

"Mallory, no!" Jared said.

"Haven't I made myself clear?!" Thimbletack shouted. "Touch the book and you'll pay!"

"Get some honey from the kitchen, Mal!" Jared said.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Come on!" Thimbletack challenged. "I invite you to try and touch this book!"

"Thimbletack--" Alina began.

"And not another word out of you, missy!" Thimbletack snapped. "I don't want to hear a peep out of you after you nearly got yourself KILLED!!"

"Honey's coming," Jared assured him. "Honey's coming."

"I don't need your stinkin' honey!" Thimbletack said, but as soon as Mallory came back and handed him a bottle, he grabbed it and downed the whole thing, turning back into a brownie.

"It's okay," Jared said, trying to calm down Thimbletack.

"It's okay?" Mallory gave her brother a funny look. "There is so much about this that is SO not okay. I don't even know where to start."

She looked closer at Thimbletack. "Why can I see him and…and…" She gestured awkwardly at Alina, who was huddled in the corner. "_That _without the stone thing?"

"Because they're letting you see," Jared replied. He turned to the brownie. "Thimbletack, what happens if the goblins get the book?"

Thimbletack put the bottle down. "You die. I die. We all die. Bye-bye."

Mallory became worried. "What does he mean, 'We all die'?"

Jared rolled his eyes. "I think he means, 'We all die'."

"And it will be worse if they get me, too," Alina said, shyly venturing over to everyone else.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Mallory asked aggressively, getting in front of Jared.

Alina was at her wit's end. "Hasn't ANYONE listened to anything I say?! I'm a Field Faerie! Only one is around for every one hundred human years! Our job is to keep the peace within our world, and in order to do that, we have to master our magic. It's meant for good, but very powerful, and sometimes hard to control. If the ogre gets ahold of it, which he has in the past…he'll become so powerful…no one will be able to stop him."

"Okay," Mallory said. "This just got a whole lot worse."

"He can't know the secrets! He can't!" Thimbletack went on. "The ogre is not to be trusted."

"He's right," Jared said. "We can't give it to Mulgarath. He'll just kill us anyway. I heard him say so. And it'll just lead him closer to obtaining Alina's magic."

"Then…let's just burn it," Simon suggested.

Mallory and Jared looked at their brother.

That wasn't a bad idea.


	15. Chapter 14

_Hey, hey, hey! It's moi! What, you didn't think I'd kill Alina off so soon in the story, did you? Well...I should proabaly stop talking before I give any more of the story away..._

_Enjoy!_

Chapter Fourteen

Jared and Mallory wasted no time getting their portable fire pit ready for the burning. The goblins watched in horror as Jared lit a match and dropped it into the wood-filled pit.

Simon, Alina and Thimbletack had chosen to stay inside and watch the action from a nearby window: Simon because of his leg, Alina because of her magic, and Thimbletack…because he wanted to.

"No!" Red Cap cried. "Give us the book!"

Jared held it up. He wanted the goblins to see that he was getting rid of the book once and for all.

At that moment, Mulgarath, in the form of a big, black, ugly crow, flew in. "Master!" Red Cap shouted. "Sorry! Forgive us!"

Red Cap paused for a second. "Okay, wait! You are strong, smart human boy. So, don't be foolish. Give us the book. And we'll promise to leave you-and your faerie friend-alone."

"I don't believe you!" Jared answered, and threw the book into the fire.

"NO!" The goblins cried.

Red Cap glared. "Now you've done it! Now you will pay!"

Mulgarath, still in his bird form, crazily tried to break into the Protective Circle, but kept hitting the invisible barrier instead.

Suddenly, the goblins began to smile. "Book, book, book, book," they chanted.

Jared and Mallory looked into the pit. The flames had gone out, and the book seemed unburned.

Jared cautiously reached into the pit and pulled the book out.

Mallory felt it. "It's cold," she said, amazed.

"You can't stay in that circle forever!" Red Cap told them. "And when you leave, here we will be."

...

"Let me guess," Jared asked Thimbletack when he and Mallory had gotten back into the house. "The book's got a charm on it."

"Lest there fall any more harm on it," Thimbletack finished.

"They're not leaving," Mallory said, looking out the window.

"I know," Jared said.

"They're never leaving!"

"I heard you the first time!"

"Why do they want that book so bad?" "I don't know!"

"Well…figure it out!" she said, pushing him onto a nearby couch.

Jared thought for a minute. "All I know is Mulgarath can't break the circle without this book, so as long as we stay in the house, we're safe."

"Uh, yeah! Until when?" Mallory wanted to know. "We stay here long enough, we're gonna end up like her!" She pointed to a picture of their Aunt Lucinda. "And don't think I'll get used to living here with…" She gave a disgusted look at Alina "...whatever that thing is!"

"Hey!" Alina shot back. "Like I would like to stay here for the next eighty-six years, living with you!"

Jared hadn't been listening. He was thinking about what Mallory had said.

"Wait a minute. She can help us!"

"Who? That pixie?" Mallory asked. "Uh, I don't think so! She tried to help Simon, and look what happened!"

"No, not Alina," Jared said. "Aunt Lucinda."

"What? Are you kidding? She's almost as bad as Alyssa over there!" "Alina," Alina corrected.

"Whatever! My point is, we don't even know Aunt Lucinda, or where she is!"

"I think I do," Simon piped up. He looked down at some papers that had fallen off a nearby table. "She's at the Woodhaven Sanatorium. But how do you get to her? If you step outside that circle, they'll get you."

"Thimbletack knows a secret way!" the brownie said. "But in the house, the book must stay."

Jared agreed to keep the book in the house, and locked it in the chest under the watchful eyes of Thimbletack.

"There. All safe," he said as soon as the book was locked up tight.

"Good," Thimbletack said. "Now go. Make haste."

"Okay," Simon said, looking at a map. "I think I have this all figured out. Some sort of secret tunnel system goes all the way to town. About a mile." He pointed west. "That way. The first ladder you find, go up. And the sanitorium is nearby."

"Thanks. You ready?" Jared asked Mallory.

Mallory had found an old steel sword. "Oh, yeah," she said. "Now I'm ready."

"All right," Jared said, exiting the room. "Let's go."

"Mallory?" Simon followed her to the door.

"I already told you, Simon, you can't go. Not with that leg. You'll slow us down. And…" She looked at Alina, who seemed to be in her own world, twirling around. "Between you and me, someone's gotta keep an eye on that one."

"I know," Simon said, handing her an eyepiece with the Seeing Stone securely strapped in. "But I found this. It'll make it easier for you to see. And between you and me…Jared and I really like Alina. And…although I hate to admit it…she really likes Jared. He's never really had an actual friend before. I don't want him to miss something that could be good for him. Besides…I think you should get to know her better. She's great, really."

Mallory took another look at Alina, then went out the door just as Jared came back in.

"What're you doing?" Simon asked, a bit surprised. "I thought you were leaving."

"I was," Jared said, his face burning. "But…I kinda wanted…well…" He took a sidelong glance at Alina, who was still in her own world.

Simon realized what his twin wanted to do-and tried not to look annoyed. "Say no more," he said, and he and Thimbletack left without another word on the matter.

Jared cautiously approached Alina. "Um…hey," he said, ducking just in time to avoid Alina's arm, which was just as carefree as her mind.

She stopped and smiled. "Hello, Jared," she said. "I can't thank you enough for saving my life. You're the most amazing human I've ever known."

"That's…great…" he said. "Listen, I wanted to come up here because…I wanted to say goodbye."

"Oh, sure," Alina said. "I totally understand."

"I'm not sure you do…" Jared said, uncertain.

"Well, you're leaving, obviously," Alina said, "and it's polite to say goodbye to someone when you're going somewhere."

"Well…not exactly…" Jared sighed and ran a hand through his hair. She wasn't understanding the severity of the situation at hand. After he and Mallory left the house, they might never make it back alive.

This wasn't going at all like he wanted it to.

"Is something wrong?" Alina asked.

"Well…kinda…" Jared didn't know how to break it to her. "It's just-"

"-you might not come back," Alina said, the situation finally dawning on her.

"Yeah," Jared said. "Me and Mallory might not come back."

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"I wish you the best of luck, then, Jared Grace," Alina finally said. "I know what you can do. You're capable of great things. And even though Mallory doesn't seem to like me…I can see that she's a very strong girl and very brave."

"You really think we can do this?" Jared asked, surprised.

"Of course I do. You're all so courageous and strong. And…you're some of my best friends."

Jared smiled and went red in the face again.

Maybe this wasn't so hopeless after all.


	16. Chapter 15

_Hey, hey, hey, everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting lately...I've been a little busy with some tests, and then yesterday there was some Spam deal going on and wouldn't let me post anything. But...here's the next chapter! Enjoy!_

Chapter Fifteen

Mallory and Jared were at the back door. "Ready, Simon?" Jared asked.

Simon nodded, and headed out the front door with Alina.

The plan was simple: Simon and Alina were to distract the goblins (while staying in the Protective Circle) at the front door, while Jared and Mallory snuck to the old carriage house, opened a trap door inside, and ran through the tunnel that led to the sanatorium.

Simon and Alina stood on the front porch. "Hey, are you there?" Simon called to the goblins.

"Show yourselves!" Redcap commanded, and half a second late, the goblins appeared, looking menacingly at Simon and Alina.

"Yeah! On the porch!" Alina said. "We're on the porch, you stupid goblins!"

"Alina!" Simon hissed. "Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?"

Alina looked at him. "No," she said, and turned back to yelling insults at the goblins. "You hungry? Well, too bad! We're not going anywhere! So y'all can drool all you want, but we aren't going anywhere!"

While Alina was busy blowing raspberries and Simon was slapping his forehead in frustration, Jared and Mallory made it to the carriage house. The only problem was that Jared had trouble opening the door.

And that's where things started to go downhill. One of the goblins noticed Jared and Mallory and began to run towards them, followed by the others.

"No! Come back!" Simon called.

"Yeah! We're delicious!" Alina said.

Simon gave her a look. "Look. I like you, okay? So listen to me when I say this: don't push it."

Jared and Mallory saw the goblins coming. "Hurry! Open it up!" Mallory said frantically.

At the last second, Jared got the door open, and the two of them got inside the carriage house and shut the door.

Once inside, they wasted no time opening the trap door. "Go! Go! Go!" Mallory said. They closed the trap door right when the goblins broke through the glass windows.

Mallory locked the door behind them, and they set off into the tunnel.

...

Outside, the goblins began to growl in frustration when Redcap began to sniff the air. "Wait…this way," he said, and began to follow Jared and Mallory above ground.

They came to a stop a few feet away. "Dig! Dig!" he instructed the goblins, who obeyed immediately. Below, Jared and Mallory felt dirt sprinkle on their heads, and ran faster.

The goblins continued their pursuit. "Go! Go!" Redcap hollered.

He wasn't going to let the humans get away this time.

...

Inside the house, Simon and Alina were back in the library with Thimbletack.

"'Goblin defenses'," Simon read, looking at a sheet of paper. "'Tomato sauce burns the skin like acid…vinegar fumes asphyxiates…salt: blinding effect…'" He looked at Thimbletack and Alina. "Are there more? What does the book say?"

"Step away from the book," Thimbletack told him, guarding the trunk.

Simon took a step backward. "Okay, okay…you open it."

Thimbletack became momentarily invisible and opened the trunk. "Where is it?" he asked himself as he searched inside. "Where did he put it? Where?" He found something wrapped in the old shirt. "Oh! There."

But it wasn't the book. And Thimbletack quickly figured that out. "AGH! THE BOOK!"

"Oh, no," Simon said. "Jared."

"Wow…" Alina said, her dreamy expression returning. "He's really clever, isn't he?"

"Okay, could we, like, maybe _not_ talk about my brother for five seconds?" Simon snapped. He was annoyed by two things at the moment. The first was that Jared had promised to keep the book in the trunk. And it wasn't there. But he should have seen that coming.

The second was that no matter how stupid Jared was and no matter how polite and nice Simon was, Alina still liked Jared better. Simon couldn't comprehend what about his twin brother Alina found…attractive. Jared had anger management issues, for crying out loud!

"What did you do with the book?" Thimbletack shouted, turning into a boggart. "You're all liars! LIARS!"

"It wasn't me!" Simon said.

"Liars! All humans are liars! WHERE'S THE BOOK?"

...

"You brought the book?" Mallory asked as Jared got it out of his backpack.

"We need to show it to Lucinda," Jared explained.

They came to a fork in the road. Their light from their flashlights shown on two separate paths.

"Which way goes into town?" Mallory asked.

"Right," Jared said, so they headed to the right.

...

Above ground, Redcap and the goblins continued to follow them into the woods. He stopped and turned to the others. "Get the troll," he told them.

Mallory and Jared came to another fork in the road.

"Now left!" Jared said. "Go left!"

As they ran down the left tunnel, they heard a crash behind them, followed by a sickening roar. "Oh, God, what was that?" Mallory asked.

"It's a moll troll," Jared said.

"What?"

"Don't ask questions. Run!"

They ran down the tunnel as the moll troll chased them, the goblins and Redcap following overhead.

They finally came to the end of the tunnel. There was a ladder that led up to a manhole. Mallory reached it first and began to climb up. Jared was about to follow her when the moll troll grabbed him from behind and pulled him down the tunnel.

"JARED!" Mallory screamed.

Jared had grabbed a piece of metal and began to hit the troll with it. He was finally able to stun the troll, break free climb up the ladder with Mallory.

They lifted the manhole cover and climbed out just when the moll troll poked its ugly head out, hissing like mad.

Just before it was able to climb out, a yellow pick-up truck ran over it, killing it on impact. Jared and Mallory screamed as they watched the body of the dead creature slither back into the ground.

"Are you okay?" the truck driver asked, climbing out of the truck. "Oh, man, did I hit somebody?"

"Yes," Jared said as he and Mallory raced away. "Thank you!"

...

Meanwhile, Helen was at her new job, learning how to do something on the computer.

"Then you hit F1," one of the employees told her, "tab, tab, then shift-return to get the total."

Helen followed the instructions and looked out the window. Mallory and Jared ran by at that moment. She hid her head in her hands and sighed.

"I know," the employee said. "It's a lot to remember, but let's go through it again."

...

Back at the house, Simon was hard at work, making weapons out of tomato sauce and other things to ward of goblins. While he did this, Thimbletack drank bottle after bottle of honey, and Alina busied herself listening to all of the girly music Simon had on his iPod.

"So," Simon said, "tomato sauce really kills goblins?"

"Yep," Thimbletack answered.

Alina suddenly stopped moving. Simon and Thimbletack looked at her in confusion.

"Oh, my gosh," Alina said, staring at the iPod. "I LOVE THIS SONG! Oh, I just love it when people walk by, blasting it on those big boxes of theirs!" She turned up the volume full blast and started dancing crazily to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Miley Cyrus.

"Oh, God, don't do that!" Simon said, blushing. "No one's supposed to know I have that on there!"

Alina paused the song and stared at him. "So…why _do _you have it on here?"

"Um…it got on there accidentally?" he tried.

Alina wasn't buying it. She gave him a look.

"I think Miley's a hot babe?"

"Yep. That's why you pine after me," Alina said.

Simon sighed. "Fine," he confessed. "I think she's a talented singer...and I kinda like the song." He leaned in. "But if anyone asks, you didn't know."

"Deal," she said, and they all got busy making more weapons to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".


	17. Chapter 16

_Hi, everyone! Sorry that this one's a bit long...there's just SO MUCH that happens!_

_Enjoy!_

Chapter Sixteen

Mallory and Jared walked up to a big brick building a few minutes later. It didn't look like a sanitarium at all. It looked more like a North Star Bank they had seen on TV.

As they walked to the door, Jared stopped to pick some flowers so they wouldn't look too suspicious.

"Jared, come on!" Mallory scolded.

When they got in, they were escorted by a nurse to their aunt's room.

"You're really in a hurry," the nurse said.

"We're just really excited to see her," Jared said, out of breath.

The nurse saw the flowers. "Oh! Those are nice flowers…" She noticed Mallory's sword. "…and sword," she added.

"Oh, I take fencing," Mallory explained quickly.

The nurse stopped at a door and opened it.

"Lucinda?" she called. "You have visitors."

As the nurse left, Jared and Mallory took in the room. The floor around the bed had a ring of salt around it. "More salt," Jared said, thinking out loud.

They went to the porch and saw an old lady sitting in a rocking chair. She seemed to be talking to the flowers, and she stopped when she saw Jared and Mallory.

"There, there now," she said to the flowers. "It's okay."

"Hi, Aunt Lucinda," Jared said tentatively.

The old woman just looked at them. It was obvious she didn't know who they were.

"I'm Mallory Grace," Mallory said, "and this is my brother Jared. Our mom's Helen."

Aunt Lucinda smiled, seeming to understand. Mallory nudged Jared with her elbow.

"Um, we have some questions," Jared said. "See, we moved into your house and-"

"What?" Aunt Lucinda cut him off. Her eyes had gone wide. "Oh, no, no, no…it isn't safe there. Why have you done this?"

"Mom said you gave it to her," Mallory said, confused. "She's the only living heir."

"No," Aunt Lucinda persisted. "You have to get out of there."

"We can't," Mallory explained. "We don't have anywhere else to go."

"It isn't safe," Aunt Lucinda continued. "You don't understand-"

"Yes, we do," Jared told her. "We know everything. We've seen."

Aunt Lucinda was quiet for a moment, and her smile made its way back to her face. She leaned over to the flowers. "It's okay. They've seen."

All at once, little sprites that looked like flower petals floated from the flowers, dancing around the porch. Jared and Mallory were transfixed by how carefree they were, how they seemed to have all the time in the world to float around.

The sprites' carefree nature reminded Jared, quite suddenly, of his goodbye to Alina a while earlier. Why had he said what he had said then? It was obvious that nothing bad was going to happen to them. He suddenly felt very stupid and wished he could erase what he had said to her. But, he had meant it…right?

Wrong.

_You didn't really mean all that_, he told himself. _You only said those things so she would tell you how wonderful she thinks you are. Sure, maybe you were afraid you'd get hurt by a goblin or something, but you knew you'd make it back to the house nonetheless. And you had to go to the extreme and be stupid and make up a sob story so she'd feel bad and tell you all over again how she's in love with you. And you only did that because you…because you…_

Jared found it difficult for himself to form the words in his mind. He didn't like Alina the way she liked him. That was…the funniest thing he'd ever thought of! He found himself smiling a bit at that thought. _That's gold_, he told himself. _Me? In love with someone like her? Yeah, right!_

_You only did that because you…because you…_

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was true. He _had _hid with her behind the tree when they were rescuing Simon. He _had _comforted her numerous times that day. He _had _saved her from certain death. He _did _think she was funny and nice, not to mention the most beautiful invisible being he had ever encountered.

_You only did that because you…because you…_

"You're in love with her, as well," Jared said, thinking out loud again.

"Love who?" Mallory asked.

Jared realized that he had said that out loud. He blushed and looked back at the flower sprites. "Nothing," he insisted.

One of the sprites floated over to Aunt Lucinda, giving her some little red berries. She took them and began to eat them at once.

Another sprite floated over to Mallory and was about to give her fruit. Mallory's hand was outstretched, ready to receive.

"No, no," Aunt Lucinda said. "Not for you, dear."

Mallory put her hand down, confused.

"She's right," Jared said, relieved to have something to talk about to get his mind off of Alina. "Eat that and you'll never crave human food again."

Aunt Lucinda looked at him curiously. "How do you know that?"

"I found this," Jared said, taking out the book. "Your father's field guide."

The sprites began to make frightening noises, retreating back to their flowers. Aunt Lucinda's eyes were wide once again, but this time she got up and began to usher Jared and Mallory into her room.

"Inside! Quickly!" she told them, shutting the door and locking it.

She looked at them. "Do you know what you've done by bringing it outside the circle? Don't you know what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands?"

"Now, we don't," Jared admitted. "That's why I brought it to you."

"Then you haven't read it," she replied.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"He did," Mallory finally said.

"Then you know more than you should," Aunt Lucinda said, sitting down in a chair. "And your lives are in danger. Didn't you read the note?"

Mallory took a sidelong glance at her brother, still furious with him for not following the directions on the note.

"Please," Jared said, trying to avoid his sister's gaze. "We don't know what to do. Can't you tell us something that'll help us?"

Aunt Lucinda sighed. "This book has brought nothing but heartache and misery to my family. I would say it was his life's work, but in truth, it was his life. And he was never quite the same after his dear friend, Gregory, perished trying to protect him and the book.

"The last day I saw him, he was so agitated; almost delirious. Well, more than usual. After Gregory died, he had become very bothered, but…that day, he was like a madman!

"I remember him running through the house, a crazed look in his eye. That was the day he created the circle; the day he learned what he had done by putting all those secrets into one book. A book Mulgarath would use to destroy all the other faeries. And then nothing could stop him, even humans, from becoming the most powerful creature the world had ever known.

"My father immediately did everything he could to protect us. Everything except destroy the book. He kept muttering he needed more time…more time. But I didn't know about the circle, you see."

Aunt Lucinda then went on to tell how she had been walking along the border of the circle when she was attacked by a pack of goblins. Her father rushed out and began to beat the goblins viciously.

"The sylphs-tiny, white creatures-protect the entire faerie realm, and the secrets my father discovered put them in danger. So they rescued him from the goblins…but took him away from me.

"Each day, I would stare down that drive, and dream of him walking up those steps and holding me in his arms once again. But he never did."

Jared looked over and saw that Mallory had begun to cry.

"One night, I dreamt that I saw him in the woods, so I went out to look for him. But…something wouldn't let me."

Aunt Lucinda rolled up her sleeve to reveal a big scratch on her arm.

"When they say suicide, and you say goblins…this is where they put you," she said matter-of-factly.

She sighed. "Those goblins thought I read the book, you see. Mulgarath will stop at nothing to get those secrets, which is why you and your family are in grave danger. And there's only one person who can help you."

"Who?" Mallory asked through her tears.

"My father."

Jared's brow furrowed. "Your father? But…your father's…um…dead."

"No!" Aunt Lucinda wheeled on him. "No! He's not! He's not dead! The sprites have told me he's alive, held captive by the sylphs for all that he knows. You must find him, bring him his book…and have him destroy it. It's your only hope."

Suddenly, Redcap shattered the window, grabbing for the book.

"No!" Jared said, fighting him for it. "Give it back!"

Aunt Lucinda threw salt at the goblin, but not before he tore pages out of the book.

"NOOO!" Jared screamed.

The three of them were like lunatics, making so much noise that several nurses had to come in to see what was going on. And with them came-

"Mom?"

...

"Useless! Worthless!" Mulgarath growled. Redcap had made it back to the camp, and had presented Mulgarath with the pages he had stolen. And, apparently, Mulgarath wasn't impressed.

"You had the book in your possession!" Mulgarath told him angrily, picking up the goblin. "And all you bring me is a bunch of…pages about nixies and phookas?"

"Don't hurt me!" Redcap whined.

"Wait," Mulgarath said. He noticed a page sticking to Redcap's foot. He peeled it off and studied it.

"'Charm for Protective Circle,'" he read. He flipped it over, and on the back was the only way to contain a Field Faerie and drain it of its magic.

"Ha, ha, ha! When the moon rises, the book will be mine!"

In a nearby tree, Hogsqueal witnessed the entire thing.

"Oh, no!" he said. "This isn't good. Must find human boy and annoying Field Faerie. Must warn them. Or maybe I'll just hide! Ooh! Yeah! I like that plan."


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

After two minutes of explaining, five hundred apologies and countless _You are gonna get it big time when we get home, mister! _looks from Helen, Jared found himself riding home in his mom's car feeling, once again, misunderstood. And just as those countless looks had promised, he was being read the riot act by his mother.

At least…not yet.

"So…" Helen said as she drove. "You say you found this book, and it tells you how to see faeries and goblins and magic sprites and…Field Faeries. And…that's what this is all about."

Jared shook his head, hating to be right about all this at the moment. "I told you you wouldn't believe me," he said.

"Um…yeah." Helen turned to Mallory in the back seat. "What do you think about all this, Mal?"

"It's true," Mallory said.

"No, it's not!" Helen shouted, staring to use gesture with her hand. "Do you really think I am so stupid that I don't see what this is about? You hate the house, and you want to go back to New York and to our old life! Well, let me just be really clear when I say this: that isn't gonna happen. Because we can't afford New York…because…"

She sighed. Jared looked at her in frustration.

"This is why Dad left, you know," he said, a bit quietly.

Helen did a double take and looked at her son. "Excuse me?"

"When someone's trying to tell you something you don't wanna hear, this is what you do. You just stop listening and start yelling. You did it to Dad all the time."

"Stop it," Helen said.

"I saw you."

"Yeah," Helen said. "You saw what you wanted to see."

Jared's anger got the better of him. "You wouldn't listen, and that's why he left!"

The car pulled into the driveway. Helen put the brakes on. Hard.

"Get out," she said, not looking at Jared.

"What?"

"You heard me. I said get out."

"Gladly," Jared said, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the car door. He got out and looked at his mother. "I hate you and I don't wanna live with you!" were the last words he said before slamming the door and running into the house.

There was a silence for a moment as Helen started to cry.

"Don't you think you should just tell him?" Mallory asked her.

Helen was quiet for another moment. "Go inside, Mal," she finally said. "We'll deal with this when I get home."

Mallory got out of the car, and Helen drove away.

...

Simon should have known that Jared and Mallory were coming back sometime that day, but he was so occupied with making weapons that he didn't notice at first when Jared came into the kitchen.

That is…he didn't notice until Alina noticed.

"Girls just wanna have FUN!" she sang off-key, still dancing crazily. It took her a minute to realize everyone was staring at her. She looked sideways and turned off the iPod. And that's when she realized Jared was there.

"JARED!" she cried, throwing herself on him. "Oh, my God! I was so worried!" She broke the hug and looked him up and down. "Did those nasty goblins hurt you? Are you okay?" She gasped. "That Hogsqueal didn't spit on you again, did he?"

"No," Jared said, really looking at Alina for the first time, his face turning red. "I'm…I'm fine."

Simon rolled his eyes and tried not to pay attention. He promised himself he wasn't gonna get upset over this. But it was so hard to watch the girl _he _liked go after Jared!

Jared sheepishly put the book-well, what was left of it-on the table.

"The book!" Thimbletack gasped. "What happened to the book? What did you do to the book?"

"It's okay!" Simon told Thimbletack. "I'll talk to him."

He turned to his brother. "You said you wouldn't take the book, and you lied!" He glanced at Alina, hoping she'd be infuriated.

"I know," Jared said. "I'm sorry."

Mallory came in the front door. "Jared," she said. "I think you should come see this."

He followed her outside. And they saw…nothing.

"See?" Mallory said. "No goblins. Do you think they've given up?"

"Wrong!" said a voice at their feet. Mallory screamed, unable to see whatever was there.

"Goblins don't give up!" Hogsqueal explained. "They're too stupid to know how they're relentless. And they're out there now, plotting! Which is why I came back for you. Now is the perfect time to-bird!" The hobgoblin went after a bird and followed it up a tree that was decorated with various birdhouses.

"What is that?" Mallory asked, disgusted.

"It's Hogsqueal," Jared said simply. They carefully stepped over the Protective Circle and went to the tree Hogsqueal was in.

"Wait!" he said. "Do birds live in these little houses?"

"Yeah," Jared said.

"Oh, my gosh! That's genius! Who thought of that? You can stick your tongue right in!" He stuck his tongue through a birdhouse hole.

Alina and Simon came out the front door at the moment. "Oh, no! Why did he come back?" Alina asked, flying over to them.

Hogsqueal looked up. "Oh, look! Carrot Top's back! Here to unleash your anger and angst on all of the innocent?"

Alina glared at him. "I'm not even gonna acknowledge that very rude remark."

"Um…yeah…" Mallory said, putting herself in between her brothers and Alina. "You do that, Alana."

"It's Alina," Alina and Simon said at the same time.

"Whatever," Mallory said.

"Hogsqueal," Jared said, addressing the hobgoblin. "You said the goblins are plotting. What are they plotting to do?"

"They have pages of the book! That stupid book!" He sighed. "You don't understand. I talked to Spiderwick. I shared some hobgoblin secrets. But Mulgarath stole that one page, then used it to kill my family. If he gets ahold of that entire book, he will do the same to everyone! Including you!

"And now he's coming! 'When the moon rises,' he said. He's gonna try and steal Her Highness's magic and stuff!"

At that, Simon perked up and moved over to Alina.

"But we'll be waiting!" Hogsqueal continued. "We'll set a trap! The human boy with his knife, Miss Fieldy with her…magical…stuff…and me hiding safely near these bird homes."

"Who is that?" Mallory asked. "I can't see anything! Who's up there?"

"Ooh! More humungous humans! Recruits for the alliance!" Hogsqueal exclaimed. He spit at Mallory and Simon, who both reacted in disgust.

"Join us on our quest! Vengeance or death! Hopefully vengeance. Okay, here's the plan."

But Jared didn't want to hear the so-called plan. He stormed away, walking back toward the house.

"No, wait!" Hogsqueal called after him. "We must unite! We must stay focused!"

A bird flew by, and Hogsqueal began to chase it through the tree. Mallory and Simon looked at each other and went in the house, too.

After Hogsqueal had eaten the bird, he looked around. "Hey! Where'd they go?"

"They went in the house," Alina said, looking on. "They have something to settle between themselves."

"And how do _you _know?" Hogsqueal asked.

Alina looked at him. "I'm a Field Faerie," she said. "I know these things."

"And that's your answer for EVERYTHING?"

"No. And it's not my answer this time. I just know that they have a conflict that the three of them need to solve by themselves." She sighed. "And I know that it's not going to be easy."


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Jared stood by the kitchen window, listening to his dad's phone ring and ring. Why wouldn't he pick up? He'd have to leave him another voicemail message.

After the beep, Jared went crazy. "Dad! I've left you, like, four messages already! Why haven't you called back? Where are you? You've gotta come here right now. There's all this crazy-"

Mallory and Simon walked in. Jared rolled his eyes and kept talking.

"All this weird stuff's been happening. Bad stuff. Real bad, and you said you were gonna come and get me. So where are you?"

Jared looked at Mallory, and the look on her face made him realize something. He hung up the phone. "He's not coming…is he?"

Mallory shook her head. "He's with someone else. He's moved in with her. He's not getting back with Mom."

This information hit Jared like a ton of big, red bricks. He felt his throat begin to close up and his eyes beginning to produce tears.

"Mom wanted him to tell you himself," Mallory said. "She's been waiting for him to do that."

Jared found himself hating his dad. Why hadn't he told him anything? Why didn't _anyone _ever tell him _anything_? EVER?

All of a sudden, the roar of goblins was audible in the distance.

"Oh, God," Mallory said. "They're coming."

Jared suddenly realized that Alina was outside all by herself.

With Hogsqueal.

"Alina," Jared said, running for the door.

"Wait a second! Why are you leaving?" Mallory asked him.

"Alina's outside!"

"Well, she's got that goblin thing-y with her, right?"

Jared looked at her. "She's screwed if she stays out there." He shut the door behind him.

Mallory sighed. "God, why does he have to be so…nice to that…that _thing_?"

"Alina isn't a thing," Simon said. "She's a living being, like you and me. So she's got huge wings and magic. Big deal."

"It _is _a big deal! She's _not anything _like you and me, Simon," Mallory said. "I still don't trust her enough to leave you or Jared alone with her." She shook her head. "I'm going to watch them from the window."

Simon rolled his eyes and had no choice but to follow her.

...

Jared spotted Alina sitting on the back steps. "Hey," he said. "I think you should come in with us. We just heard-"

"I know," Alina said darkly. "I'm not deaf."

Jared's brow furrowed. She had never talked to him like that.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"No," she said, getting up and facing him. "It's not."

Jared realized that Alina had been crying. Then he remembered what he had said to his dad on the phone. _All this weird stuff's been happening. Bad stuff. Real bad, and you said you were gonna come get me._

Jared gasped silently and looked at Alina. "You heard the whole thing?"

"Unfortunately," she said. "You know, if I knew you were gonna start calling me 'weird', I would have never even been your friend in the first place."

"Alina, I didn't mean it. God, I would never mean something like that. I'm just…upset with my dad right now, that's all. I didn't mean _you_ were weird. I just…"

"Just what?"

"I'm just going through a lot right now, okay?" he shouted.

Alina took a step backward, clearly frightened.

He groaned and sat on the steps. "I'm sorry I snapped like that. I shouldn't have said what I said."

Alina sat next to him. "Well…I'm sorry, too. I know you didn't mean it. I really did. But…I'm just so used to everyone either thinking of me as weird or…"

"Too special?" Jared finished.

"Yeah. I mean, no offense, but…that's how your brother and sister treat me. You're the only one who thinks of me as just…normal. Besides Thimbletack, of course."

Jared laughed, and so did Alina.

"But, still…" Alina said. "You're…leaving?"

Jared froze. "Um…I was hoping I was going to leave. I mean, you didn't think I could stay here forever, right?"

Alina looked down at her feet. "I guess not."

"But…" Jared said slowly. "Now I realize that…I might be having second thoughts."

"What? Why?"

"Because-"

Simon opened the door. "Um, excuse me?" he said, irritated. "I think this conversation's gone on long enough! If you do recall…goblins are after us!"

Jared and Alina both rolled their eyes and went in the house.

...

"Aunt Lucinda said our only chance is to take the book to Arthur Spiderwick and have him destroy it," Jared said when they were all back in the kitchen.

"What? We don't even know if he's alive, let alone how to find him!" Mallory said.

Jared looked at Simon's cat, Mr. Tibbs, and had an idea. He opened the book and started to page through it.

"What are you looking for?" Mallory asked.

"He had a pet."

"A pet? And…Fluffy the Dog is gonna save us?"

"It wasn't a dog," Alina said, catching on. "It was a griffin."

Jared smiled at her. "Exactly."

He skimmed the page on griffins. "'When I call upon him in the native tongue of the tree elf with whom he dwells,'" Jared read, "'he comes to my assistance.' See? His pet can find him." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Mallory said. "Summon a griffin? In native tree elf? To find a hundred-and-twenty-five-year-old man who may or may not be alive? That's our plan?"

Jared nodded.

"And…you know how to summon a griffin in native tree elf?"

"Well…" Alina piped up. "Maybe he doesn't…but I do."

"Of course! Albeta always needs to come to the rescue, doesn't she?"

"It's _Alina_," Alina said firmly. "And I happen to know how to speak in native tree elf because I have a bit of their blood." She turned to Jared. "And I'm going to tell you what to say."

She leaned in and whispered the summoning words in his ear. Jared felt his cheeks burn from being so close to her.

"_Grip, Grap, Greep,_

_Niffgri, Eras, Eralc, Seke_

_Ehcop, Sirhc, Yert-Yerak_

_Imas, Aiam, Nnif." _

Jared repeated the words as best he could. Nothing happened.

"Is that it?" Mallory asked. "Did it work?"

"I guess not," Jared said.

Mallory looked at Alina. "What happened to 'I know how to speak in native tree elf'?"

"Okay…so I'm a bit rusty," Alina said. "I tried, didn't I?"

They suddenly heard the sound of a large bird. Jared looked at Alina. "Nice call," he said.


	20. Chapter 19

_Hello, everyone! I'm almost done posting this story. I know, it's sad...but it's gotta end sometime, right?  
Anyway, here's another chapter! Enjoy!_

-

Chapter Nineteen

The four of them ran outside just as the griffin landed. It looked like a cross between a lion and an eagle. But all the same…it was big.

"That thing isn't gonna…maul us, is it?" Mallory asked, frightened.

"I don't think so," Alina said. "I've never actually seen a griffin. But I know that you need to be careful around them."

Simon went toward the griffin.

"God, Simon! Be careful!" Jared told him. "You don't want to come back up the steps in pieces, do you?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Thimbletack said, pushing the book out on the steps. "Find Arthur Spiderwick. Bring him the book. There's your ride. Off you go!"

"Wait," Alina said, confused. "I can go with?"

Thimbletack rolled his eyes. "I suppose. You've learned your lesson."

Alina jumped up and down, squealing with delight. She was so happy, she absently kissed Jared on the cheek, then resumed bouncing up and down.

While Mallory quickly put herself between Jared and Alina, Jared couldn't help but blush and bring his hand to his face. Alina had just…kissed him. He smiled and started to laugh a bit.

"If you think that broke the ice and I'm gonna let you out of my sight with…Albino here," Mallory said to Jared, "you are SO wrong!" She paused for a second. "Wait…" she said, turning to Thimbletack. "You want us to ride that…beast?"

"He's not a beast!" Thimbletack said. "He's a bird! A big-boned bird!"

Mallory shook her head. "Uh-uh! There's now way we can possibly…"

She stopped herself short as she and Jared looked at their brother. Simon was petting the griffin's beak, telling him to calm down. And the griffin was…listening.

"Cool pet!" Simon said.

Jared and Mallory exchanged glances. If anyone could calm the griffin down, it was Simon.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Thimbletack said. "Get on him!"

-

In no time, Jared, Mallory, Simon and Alina were on the griffin, soaring through the air. They looked below at all the trees and houses. Those things looked much smaller from up here.

The journey was rough. The griffin took several sharp nose dives, and went through a very narrow ice crevasse. This was enough to scare the siblings, but Alina seemed not to notice.

They all looked back at her, confused.

"I have wings!" she shouted above the roar of the wind. "I'm used to this!"

They finally reached a valley surrounded by mountains. Little white dandelion seeds--which Jared guessed were the sylphs--swirled around and around to reveal a middle-aged man.

After all four of them had climbed off of the griffin, they couldn't help but stare at the man. There was a strange silence as they slowly approached him.

"My God," Jared said, breaking the silence. "It's him! Arthur Spiderwick."

"He's alive," Mallory said incredulously.

All Simon could say was, "Whoa!"

At that moment, the griffin took off and flew away. "Now how are we gonna get home?" Mallory asked.

But Jared wasn't concerned about that at the moment. "Arthur Spiderwick?" he said as the man turned around. "Thank God we found you. You don't even know what we've been through."

Arthur Spiderwick glanced over Jared's shoulder at Alina, who waved awkwardly. "Oh, I'm beginning to get an idea," he said.

He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry…do I know you?"

"Not really," Jared said. "Lucinda…your daughter…our great-aunt. She sent us."

"Lucy?" Arthur Spiderwick asked, confused. "She's only six-and-a-half years old."

"No…she's…she's eighty-six-and-a-half years old."

Arthur Spiderwick looked at him in disbelief. "Well…that's nonsense! I was with her only this morning." He paused, thinking. "Or…was that yesterday?"

"No," Jared said, exasperated. "That was eighty years ago!"

Arthur Spiderwick looked at him, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"Listen, you gotta believe me," Jared pleaded. "You're my great-great uncle."

He turned around. "Help me out, guys," he said, but when he was turned around, he realized that Mallory, Simon and Alina hadn't been listening. Mallory and Simon were more interested in the sylphs flying around than in anything else, and all Alina could do was rock back and forth in worry.

"What happened to them?" Jared asked, frightened.

"The sylphs," Arthur Spiderwick said. "Their song must have altered my perception of time. That's what they do. Lucy's an old woman now, you say? That must mean my wife is…oh, my God, what have I done?"

"Look, I'm sorry about all that," Jared told him, reaching into his backpack. "Really. But you gotta help us. I found your book."

"The Field Guide?!" Arthur Spiderwick exclaimed.

Alina must have sensed that it was out, because she turned away from Mallory and Simon and ran to Jared, trying to stuff it back. "Are you crazy?!" she hissed. "Put that back! We don't want the sylphs to see!"

"She's right," Arthur Spiderwick said. "Don't listen to them." He plugged his ears. "Follow me!"

Jared found his headphones and plugged them into his ears. He looked at Alina. "Don't you need something?" he shouted.

"I'm immune to their singing," Alina shouted back as they followed Arthur Spiderwick into the glade.


	21. Chapter 20

**_OMG sorry I haven't been updating lately! I've had to read "A Separate Peace" for my English class...and because no one in my class (including me) enjoy it (no offense to anyone who does), it's taking a while to finish. But I have two and a half chapters left, so I'll be done soon and I can post some more! Yay!_**

**_Anyway, here's another chapter! Enjoy!_**

Chapter Twenty

"Here! Under here!" Arthur Spiderwick said, gesturing to an archway made out of a gnarled old tree. "Quickly! While they're distracted!"

Jared couldn't help but look back at his siblings. They seemed so oblivious to everything but the sylphs…it was almost eerie…

The three of them ran to another gnarled tree and sat down.

"Give me the book," Arthur Spiderwick instructed.

Jared got it out and handed it to him.

"You shouldn't have read this," he told Jared. "You shouldn't have brought this outside the circle."

_What? Are you crazy? I'm glad that I read that book! If I hadn't, I'd have never met Alina…_

"I know, I know…" Jared chose to say instead, "but I brought it to you so you could destroy it."

Arthur Spiderwick looked at him funny. "Destroy it? No…are you mad?"

"Maybe Jared isn't…" Alina whispered to Jared, "but I know someone who is…"

"Alina, not now," Jared gently chastised.

"I have uncovered all of their secrets," Arthur Spiderwick said as if nothing had ever happened. "Including your friend's. And this book is my validation. This book is my life."

"You're a hundred-and-twenty-five years old!" Jared argued. "Your life is over!"

"Oh! Don't forget that his daughter spent her whole life without a father all because of that stupid book," Alina added.

This made Arthur Spiderwick think. He walked a few feet away, still looking at the book. "I never imagined that the things I learned could possibly have led to this."

"Look," Jared said. "I know stuff I wish I didn't too, but there's nothing I can do about that. One thing I know for sure is that you have to destroy that book."

Arthur Spiderwick had been half listening, because he had opened the book and was frowning. "What the hell is this?"

"What's what?" Alina asked, confused.

"Where's my book?"

Jared and Alina peered closer and saw that the pages in the binding weren't the book at all. They were from an old cook book.

"Thimbletack! He switched the pages!" Jared exclaimed.

"And he thinks _I'm _immature," Alina said, annoyed.

"But the real book is still safe inside the circle…right?" Arthur Spiderwick asked hopefully.

"No, Mulgarath got pages."

"What?"

"He'll break the circle as-"

"-soon as the moon rises, I know. And I'm guessing if he got that page, he's also after her magic, am I correct?"

"Unfortunately," Alina said.

"As soon as the moon rises…that's when Mom will be getting home!" Jared said. "We gotta get back soon!"

"No!" Arthur Spiderwick stopped him. "They won't let you leave. They'll keep you and your friend here for the same reasons they're keeping me. We know too much."

"Then what are we gonna do? Please! You gotta help us!"

"Well…if I'm as old as you say I am, then I'm useless outside this glade."

Jared stared at him for a moment. Then he ran farther into the woods.

"Come back…strange boy!" Arthur Spiderwick called. He began to run after him.

"Hold on," Alina said. "I'll go after him. I think I know what's wrong."

Arthur Spiderwick watched as the young Field Faerie took off and flew away.

...

Jared finally found a log to sit on. He flopped down and started to cry. Things weren't exactly working out as he had expected them to.

"Jared?" He heard Alina's voice getting closer and closer. She finally emerged from some trees and flew over to him.

"God, I'm so stupid!" Jared said.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am! Thinking we could come here, have that stupid book destroyed, and then get back home and save our sorry butts…" He wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Mallory's right. I don't think!"

Alina sighed. "Jared…you're not stupid, okay? You were only thinking about what was best for everyone. Sure, sometimes things didn't exactly…go as planned."

"You could say that again," Jared said angrily. He looked up at her and started to laugh. "God…you must think I'm such a baby…running away and crying all the time…"

"I don't think that at all."

Jared should have known that was going to be the answer. Which reminded him what he had wanted to ask her earlier.

"Um…can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why me?"

"Um…excuse me?"

"God, that wasn't the best way to phrase it," Jared realized. "Um…why, exactly, do you, um…?"

"Why do I like you so much?"

"Uh…yeah…"

Alina giggled. "I've told you this a million times already! I think you're brave and resourceful and funny…and really, really cute…"

"But…why me? I mean, I lose my temper WAY too often…and Simon's more like you than anyone…"

"True," Alina said. "But…Simon only likes me because of _what_ I am. You like me for _who _I am. And I've never really had that happen before."

For the first time, Jared took that in. It was true. He didn't care if she was a Field Faerie or not. She was still his friend.

"Wait," Alina said. "You didn't ask me that just cause you wanted to hear all that again, did you?"

"No," Jared said, surprising himself. "I said that because…well, when Mal and I were in town, I started thinking about…things…and I realized that…I…um…"

He sighed. Why was it so hard to talk to her?

"You realized…what?"

"That…um…uh…I-"

But he never got to what he wanted to say, because at that moment, Arthur Spiderwick broke through the brush.


	22. Chapters 21 and 22

_**A/N: So...Chapter 21. Here's the Cliffnotes version of it:**_

_**Alina and Jared were interrupted from their cute little moment by Arthur Spiderwick. He, again, tells them he can't do anything, but Jared can. Jared's read the book, so he gets the wonderful burden of kicking some other-worldly butt. So they finally snap Mallory and Simon out of their trances by using the decoy book, and fly away on the griffin. **_

_**When they get back, they see that the goblins are already preparing to enter through the Protective Circle. They see Alina and attack. After a few minutes of struggling, they manage to haul her away, and a few seconds later, Helen comes home, still unaware of all that's going on.**_

_**Yeah, yeah, I know...you guys will hate me for this. But, in my defense, this is a lot better than skipping an entire chapter. Just sayin'...**_

**...**

**A/N**

**Hello! OMG I finished "A Separate Peace" (and it was kinda sad...but at least I'm done). Now that that's over with, I can focus on...my stupid health test. Great.**

**Anyway, this is one of the last chapters in the story! Enjoy!**

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jared, Simon and Mallory discussed what to do. But first, they had to consider what was going on first.

Creepy goblins were trying to kill them.

An ogre was trying to take over the world.

Their friend was most likely gonna die.

And their mother knew nothing about all this.

After careful decision, they decided to go with a classic solution.

They ran in front of the car, screaming.

"MOM! NO!" they cried, waving their arms and jumping up and down.

Now that Alina was restrained, the goblins could focus on them. They turned and started following them.

"What?" Helen asked. "What's going on?"

The siblings jumped into the car frantically. "Mom, move over!" Mallory said, taking the wheel.

"What are you doing?" their mother wanted to know.

"Mallory! Drive!" Jared said. "Get the car inside the Protective Circle!"

"NO ONE is driving this car except me!" Helen insisted.

But no one listened. Mallory stepped on the gas and drove the car over numerous goblins. With everyone screaming, Mallory couldn't really pay attention, so she ended up crashing the car into the front porch. But at least they were safe inside the circle.

For now.

...

"Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?" Helen demanded when they got inside the house.

No one seemed to notice what she had said.

"Jared, what do we do now?" Mallory asked. "Are we gonna go rescue Alina or what?"

"We gotta protect-" Jared stopped short. "Did you just call her Alina?"

"Yes, yes! I did! Are we gonna save her?"

"I'm not sure! She was doing pretty well when we were fighting off the goblins, but the sooner we get done in here, the better!"

"What do we do until then?"

"We gotta protect the house! Simon! The sage in the planter boxes!"

"I know, I know!" Simon said, getting to it.

"Hang them in the windows!" Jared called after him. He turned to his sister. "Mal! Go upstairs and get all of Lucinda's salt!"

She began to run upstairs. "All of it?"

"All of it!"

"Okay!"

Jared began to walk around the entryway, searching for Thimbletack. "Thimbletack!" he called. "Thimbletack, where are you?"

"Jared!" his mother said, trying to get his attention.

"Thimbletack! The circle's about to be broken and Alina's about to be drained of her magic! Please come out!"

"JARED! What is going on?"

"Mom! You gotta believe me this time, okay?"

"Oh, no!" Helen shook her head. "Absolutely not! One more word about faeries and goblins, and I swear-"

Thimbletack chose that moment to appear. "Goblins, I know. But I hid the book! They'll never find it!"

Helen screamed.

"Why is she screaming?" Thimbletack asked. "I'm the one who should be screaming! With concern! The circle's about to be broken, and Alina's going to die, and then we'll have to wait eighty-six more human years for the next Field Faerie! But that's not the point! Alina's in trouble! But no one can go outside!"

While Thimbletack babbled out loud to himself, Helen went to get a walking stick.

"Mom, no!" Jared said, lowering her raised arms. "He's not the problem!" He held the Seeing Stone up to the window. "They are."

Helen cautiously looked through it. The goblins were waiting for the circle to break, jumping up and down. She had to look away because she was in such shock.

Before turning back to his mother, Jared saw a couple of goblins standing guard next to a trunk. He guessed Alina was in there, being drained of her magic, shaking with fear and hoping that someone would rescue her. But she was wrong. He couldn't rescue her.

Not just yet.

But he was afraid that if he waited, it would be too late.

"We have to protect the house!" Jared said to his mom. "Understand?"

Helen just looked at him.

This was going to be a long night.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

No one wasted any time getting things ready. Salt was spread on all the windows and openings, there was enough tomato sauce to choke a horse, and everyone got ahold of some sort of steel.

"Good thing we're New Yorkers," Helen said to herself.

...

Outside, the full moon was rising. The goblins began to dance for joy, waiting as the circle slowly lifted. They were shortly joined by Mulgarath, who was as determined as ever to get the book.

A few feet away, in the trunk, Alina felt her magic slowly draining out. _Hang in there,_ she told herself. _Jared's gotta protect his family first. Then he'll come and save me. I just know it._

She heard the sudden laughter of the goblins. "The circle is broken!" they cried happily, advancing onto the house.

Alina silently groaned. This couldn't be good.

...

In the house, the family stood in a circle, back to back, waiting for the goblins. At first, they tried to break in through the windows and doors, but couldn't because of the salt. They eventually gave up on that.

Then…everything was quiet.

Dead quiet.

Eerily quiet.

The four stood stock still, waiting any second now for a sign-anything-that the goblins were coming. And after mere seconds that seemed like hours, they finally got their answer.

The goblins were using the floorboards.

They started to stomp down on the floorboards, but they quickly had to use their tomato sauce and steel, which worked fairly better. But just the same, there were a lot of goblins. And they started chasing the family around the first floor of the house.

They finally found refuge in the living room, but just as they started to sigh with relief, the carpet started growing taller and taller. And out of it popped Mulgarath, his teeth gnashing and his eyes darting every which way.

"Give the book to me!" he demanded, knocking them on some of the goblins. They ran into the kitchen, blocking the doors along the way.

"It won't hold for long!" Jared said.

Simon looked at the oven and got an idea. "Give me a hand!" he said, opening the oven door. The other three helped him stuff all of the tomato sauce, salt and steel into the oven. Already, they heard the goblins and Mulgarath trying to break into the kitchen. They all quickly found hiding places and were out of sight just as the goblins came crashing through.

"Where did they go?" Redcap asked aloud. "Where are they?"

The goblins set to work sniffing around. Not one of them noticed Simon open the dumbwaiter door and strike a match, lighting a long line of gun powder that was on the floor.

The goblins all jumped back, scared of the flame. They saw that it lead to the oven.

"Oh, sh-" Redcap started to say. But he never got the chance. The oven exploded, and its contents rained on the goblins, killing every last one of them.

After a few moments of silence, Jared, Mallory, Simon and Helen all climbed out of their hiding places.

"It worked!" Simon said.

Thimbletack popped out of the dumbwaiter. "Book safe?"

"Yes. Book safe," Jared assured him. "Good job, Thimbletack. Now, we gotta get outside! Alina needs us more than ever."

They were about to go outside when they heard something bump against the door. "Oh, God…" Mallory said.

Everyone grabbed a weapon and ran to the front door, ready for whatever was coming through.

Or so they thought they were. Because all of them were very surprised when they saw who came through the door.

"Dad?"


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey, everyone. Now, don't everyone start hating me because of what happens at the end of the chapter...cause it's not the end of the story. Just keep that in mind.**

Chapter Twenty-Four

Before now, all Jared had had on his mind was beating the goblins. And when they were done with that, he'd go and set Alina free (and then finally tell her how he felt).

But now?

Now…all he could think about was his dad.

"Richard?" Helen asked, confused.

He stepped through the door, stunned by what he found inside. "What happened?"

"What are you doing here?" Helen asked, a little exasperated.

"What's going on?" Richard asked, ignoring the question.

Mallory laughed. "God, where do we start?"

Jared pulled out the book, which was now bound with twine. "With this, I guess."

Richard looked at the pages. "What's that? Let me see."

Jared started to hand his father the book, but pulled it back at the last minute. There was something that wasn't right about this…

"No!" Jared said. He remembered what he had learned earlier. "Not until you tell me what you need to tell me."

Richard looked at his son with a blank face. "Huh?"

Jared stayed cool. "The last time we were on the phone, you said that the next time we saw each other, you had something to say to me. So…let's hear it. What was so important that you had to wait until now?"

Richard couldn't say anything.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me," Jared persisted. "I just wanna hear you say it."

"I…I just wanted to tell you that…I love you, son."

Jared stared at him and said nothing.

"Let me see the pretty pages now," Richard said, reaching for the book.

Jared pulled back. "Wrong answer," he said, and stabbed his father in the chest with his knife.

"JARED!!!" Mallory and Helen screamed.

"Get back! It's not him! It's not Dad!"

Sure enough, Richard began to change into Mulgarath. He pulled the knife out of his chest and let out a sickening roar.

"Now give me the book!"

"Run, Jared!" Mallory screamed, trying to ward off Mulgarath.

Being in his regular form, Mulgarath easily swatted Mallory, Simon and Helen aside. He chased after Jared, intent on getting the book this time.

Jared ran to the dumbwaiter and began hoisting himself upward, closing the door. Mulgarath began to reach up the shaft, but the door shut on his fingers, slicing them off. He roared, changing into a snake. He easily slithered up the shaft.

"Oh, God!" Jared said, pulling the ropes harder and faster.

"Give me the book," Mulgarath hissed. "Give it to me!"

Jared reached the top and climbed out just as Mulgarath broke through behind him, baring his very sharp snake fangs. He tripped Jared and wrapped around him, ready to strike.

Suddenly, Thimbletack jumped on the snake's head. "Back off, Slimy!" the brownie shouted, blinding Mulgarath long enough for Jared to get away. Unfortunately, Mulgarath being the bigger creature, he flung Thimbletack against the wall, where he was knocked out.

"Thimbletack!" Jared cried. He climbed out the window and onto the roof, Mulgarath in hot pursuit.

Jared climbed farther up the roof, looking back to see Mulgarath change back into his regular form and try to claw his way up. They both reached the very top, Jared clinging on for dear life.

"Give me the book!"

Jared threw his knife at Mulgarath's arm, causing the ogre to almost fall off the roof. But he quickly gained his balance and continued to pursue Jared, eventually causing him to hang from a loose rope on the edge.

"Jared!" Mallory, Simon, and Helen had made it outside, helplessly watching Jared dangle from the loose rope. There had to be something they could do help…

Jared saw the trunk Alina was in, unguarded. "The trunk! Mallory! Simon! Get the trunk!"

Mulgarath watched in horror as Simon and Mallory ran to the trunk. "NOOOO!!!!" he roared as they lifted the lid of the trunk.

Everyone held their breath as Mallory and Simon peered inside. As they did, both of their faces fell.

"It's empty," Simon said. "She's gone."


	25. Chapter 25

**_Hola! OMG it's Halloween! I'm not going trick-or-treating :(...but I'm handing out candy. Ooh! And I'm going to be the Charlie Brown-potato-ghost thing...you know, on the TV special, when he cuts too many holes in his ghost sheet, and then goes trick-or-treating, only to get a bunch of rocks? Yeah...that's gonna be me...minus the rocks part..._**

**_Anyway, I think I've kept y'all in suspense long enough about Alina's whereabouts...so here's another chapter in the Spiderwick Chronicles! _**

**_Enjoy...and Happy Halloween!_**

**_-_**

Chapter Twenty-Five

The ton of red bricks came back to Jared at that moment. He remembered what the page in the Field Guide had said about Field Faeries: once their magic was drained, they'd disappear, leaving no trace whatsoever behind.

And they'd never reappear again.

He felt his heart break in two as he stared at the empty box.

Alina was really gone.

Gone forever.

"You're too late, you foolish human," Mulgarath said, laughing evilly. "In a few seconds, I will gain the Field Faerie magic and become the most powerful creature the world has ever known!"

"Go ahead," Jared said. "Kill me."

"Jared, what in God's name are you doing?!" Helen cried.

"He's lost his mind," Simon said.

Jared felt a sob become lodged in his throat. "Go ahead and kill me. Take the book and kill everyone. It doesn't matter to me." He gave a shuddering sigh. "Nothing matters anymore!!" he shouted.

Everyone stopped and stared. Even Mulgarath was quiet for a moment.

"I wasn't able to save Alina from that horrible box! It's my fault that she ended up like this. The only day she ever knew me, she was nothing but kind and generous to me and my siblings. And I repay her by letting her magic be drained."

He started to cry. "The whole day, all she did was tell me how she loved me. And I could never find the courage to do the same. I could never tell her to her face that I felt the same way she did about me. I could never tell her I was in love with her as well. And now she's gone!"

Mulgarath saw his chance to pounce, and began to advance on Jared. "Now it's time for you and all of your kind to die!"

Suddenly, a bright light appeared, glowing brighter and brighter. And the light was coming from…

"Alina!"

Alina glared at Mulgarath, who had shrunk back in fear. "Did I just hear you say you were gonna kill Jared and all of his kind?"

Mulgarath shook his head.

"Yeah. That's what I thought." Alina reached out her hands and sent a powerful blast Mulgarath's way. He was knocked off the roof, but was able to grab onto the edge right before completely tumbling off.

"Give me the book!" Mulgarath said.

Jared knew that no matter how hard Alina tried, Mulgarath would not give up. He suddenly glanced to the tree Hogsqueal was still in. Then he had an idea.

"You want the book? Go get it!" Jared tossed the book toward the tree.

Mulgarath was quick on impulse, transforming into a raven and catching the book in his talons. However, he was so close to the tree that he flew straight into the grasps of Hogsqueal--who gulped him down in two seconds!

"That was good!" the hobgoblin said.

Suddenly, the rope holding Jared up snapped and he began to fall. "AGH!!!"

"JARED!!!!"

Alina appeared and caught him in midair, but he was a bit heavy for her, so they both fell to the ground in a tumbled heap.

Simon, Mallory and Helen ran to them. "Are you guys okay?"

"I think we're fine," Jared said.

"You did it!" Mallory said.

Hogsqueal burped rather loudly. "Death to the ogre!" he cried. "We did it! You sent him right to me! And I ate him! That's teamwork! The taste of vengeance is sweet! I can still taste a little! Oh, is it good! I did it! I knew I could do it! They said I couldn't, but I did!"

As Hogsqueal continued his babbling, pages of the Field Guide began to drift to the ground. "We'd better pick those up," Alina said. "We wouldn't want them falling into the wrong hands again."

She went to pick up the pages, Mallory and Simon following her. Jared was about to when his mother pulled him back.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," she said. "I mean…"

"No," Jared said. "I'm sorry…"

"No, listen, I…"

"For what I said…I didn't mean…"

"Jared. It's not your fault. It's mine. I was trying to protect you, but I guess I should have just told you the truth. Your dad loves you, and if you want to stay with him, that's--"

"I don't wanna live with Dad," Jared cut in. "Is it okay if I stay here with you?"

Helen began to cry as she hugged her son. "Who else is gonna protect us?"

She sighed as she let go. "I think it's time I began some cleaning…this house is never gonna be the same…" She went in just as Mallory and Simon approached him.

"Listen, Jared…" Mallory began.

"I know, I know," Jared said. "Alina's a freak and I shouldn't see her ever again. I get it."

"Actually, we wanted to tell you that you should go talk to her," Simon said.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Mallory said. "I mean, after you tried to save her from the goblins…and after that speech you gave…it made the both of us realize that she means the world to you…and we could never keep you from that."

Simon patted his twin on the back. "Let us know how it goes. We want to know all the excruciating details."

Jared laughed as his siblings went in the house. But it was quickly replaced by butterflies in his stomach as he found Alina sitting on the porch steps.

"Um…hi," he said awkwardly, sitting next to her. "Thanks for that."

"Your welcome. But…it would have never happened without you."

"What?"

Alina giggled. "Well, the goblins guarding me had to help Redcap and the others get the book, and after I heard the explosion in the house, I realized that you guys had killed them all. I was able to get out of the box with the little energy I had left…and then about ten minutes later, you came out on the roof with Mulgarath. I was barely alive then…and I knew I wasn't gonna live much longer. But…then you started talking about…things…and I started gaining energy back. Just like human tears have healing powers, so do words, I guess. And then I was able to beat down on Mulgarath! Yeah!"

Jared laughed. "That's…great!"

"So…you wanted to…tell me something?" Alina asked, looking at him expectantly.

Jared gulped and felt his cheeks burn. This was it.

"Yeah…I wanted to tell you that…well…I…feel the same way you feel about me."

Alina's face became scarlet red. "Really?"

"Yeah. And not just because of…well…"

"I know," she said.

"And…I'm not going to stay with my dad."

Alina became a bit concerned. "But…wasn't that what you wanted more than anything?"

"Yes. But…after today…I realized that I couldn't leave my mom…or Mallory…or Simon…or you."

Jared found himself leaning in all of a sudden. What was he doing? It was as if his mind had taken a vacation and had left his heart in charge.

And his heart was telling him to kiss Alina.

And that's what he did.

He could have been dreaming--after the day he had had, he couldn't be sure about anything anymore.

But after a few seconds he knew he wasn't.

And that belief was confirmed when he realized that Alina was kissing him back.


	26. Epilogue

_Hey, everyone! OMG this is the last installment of the story! Thanks for everyone who read my story and gave me all that support. You guys are SOOOOO amazing! _

_Till next time...Happy Halloween!_

_-ElphieThroppDG28_

**_A month and a half later..._**

Epilogue

Things had changed quite a bit for the Grace family since that fateful night.

For one, Jared, Simon, Mallory and Helen began to get along more than they used to.

For another, Alina came over every single day, and not just because Thimbletack was helping her control her magic.

And for a third…everyone decided that Aunt Lucinda needed to get out of the sanitarium.

Being in her old house again changed her for the better, everyone had to agree. She seemed much happier than she had the day Mallory and Jared visited her.

"My old friend Thimbletack," she said cheerfully, going over to the brownie. "My little guardian angel…I've missed you so much!"

Although he was still on crutches from the various bruises and injuries he had gotten when he was knocked against the wall, Thimbletack had a big smile on his face.

"Book safe, Lucy," he said. "Book safe."

"Yes, it is, and if my father were here, he'd say, 'Job well done'."

She turned and saw Alina. "Oh…and this must be the nice young girl Jared's been talking so much about. How's the training coming, dear?"

"It's going great, surprisingly," Alina said, blushing a little. "It's actually because of Simon that it's going that way. He was the one to discover that since I get my power from starlight, my power's at its strongest at night. And I'm slowly learning to use it during the daytime, too."

"That's wonderful. Oh, I know that Gregory would be so proud of you."

"Aunt Lucinda?" Jared said, standing at the door. "I think you should come see this."

Everyone followed her outside to hear the sylphs approaching. And walking in their protection was Arthur Spiderwick.

Aunt Lucinda was absolutely speechless when she saw her father walking towards them. She went down the front steps to meet him, a big smile on her face.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked him.

"No, my child…you're not."

"Child…" she laughed. "Do you know how old I am?"

"Yes, I do," he said, sorrow spreading across his face. "And I'm so sorry. I was so captivated by all the magical creatures I found that I lost sight of the one I already had. But I see it now…and I may never be able to forgive myself.

"You came back as you promised," she said, "so I forgive you."

"My dear," Arthur Spiderwick said, "because the book was saved, the sylphs allowed me to come see you. But…I cannot stay. Because if I do, all my years will come flooding back to me, all at once, and I will turn to dust."

"Then this time…take me with you."

Arthur Spiderwick thought for a moment, then held out his hand to his daughter. And as she took it, the sylphs worked their magic to restore Aunt Lucinda to her six-year-old self.

And as the two shared a hug, everyone exchanged heartfelt glances. This moment could never really be described by words.

Then everyone watched as the father and daughter walked away, surrounded by the sylphs. They would be transported to the magical glade, where they would stay forever.

When they were out of sight, everyone went back in the house.

Everyone…except Jared. His eyes were fixed on the sky, trying to still comprehend how all this was possible.

Alina noticed that he wasn't following everyone else, and went back to where he stood.

"You know," he said when she approached, "I never knew that any of this could ever be able to happen."

"Well," Alina said, "sometimes things don't turn out the way you hope-even the most bizarre phenomenons. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. Sometimes those things are the best things in life."

Jared smiled as he slipped his hand into hers. "Oh, and don't I know it…" he said, causing the both of them to laugh. They shared a kiss and then walked back into the house, still holding hands.

...

"Fly while you can, griffin!" Hogsqueal yelled from his birdhouse tree as the griffin flew past. "I swallowed an ogre whole. You could be next!"


	27. Dedication and Acknowledgements

DEDICATION PAGE

Yeah…thought I'd put one of these in all the stories I've finished posting so far. Idk, I think it'd only be right to acknowledge everyone who helped me with this story (whether they know it or not).

Thanks so much to the following people:

-Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, for telling the story of the Grace kids in the first place. Without their intimate knowledge of the Invisible World or their wonderful books, none of this would have been possible.

-Everyone in the Spiderwick Chronicles movie, both cast and crew. If there was no movie, I wouldn't have really had any idea of how to add Alina in to my story!

-Freddie "Freddy Boy" "Fredday" Highmore, for giving such wonderful performances as both Simon and Jared Grace. His awesome portrayals really helped me in adding Alina when necessary. And, yes, even if I have gotten over him, he will always be one of my homies!

-My best friend, A.K., who read the first draft of my story. If not for him, I'd still have many embarrassing spelling errors! I would also like to thank him for being so patient with me when I would get a little slow with sending over the story. Thanx for sticking through it, Elphers! Ballin' Two-Steppin!

-The people who do the drawing and animation for the Winx Club. Without their drawing and animating of Bloom (particularly in her Enchantix form), I would have never gotten my idea of what Alina looked like.

-Shinjite Florana, practically my sister, who sent in my very first review and for her continuous support. If not for her, I might not have an account on FanFiction anymore! Thanx for giving me the pep talks and kicks-in-the-butt I needed to get me back on my feet! Love you!

-MusicalLife17, for her great advice on moviefics. She helped me when I was in doubt, and she is an AMAZING author, too!

-Everyone who reviewed my story. All of your comments made me think about things to improve my story! Thanx so much!

-The loyal readers (you know who you are) who stuck out the story and were kind in their comments and gave me support when I really needed it. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing my story!

Thanx again!

~ElphieThroppDG28


	28. READ! VERY IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT CH 21

Hey, y'all! So very, very sorry for the confusion! Yes, there is no Chapter 21 - at the moment.

The story: Once upon a time, FanFiction had the brilliant idea to remove the use of dashes (-) when a writer wanted to separate paragraphs. Well, I'm kind of a big fan of those when I'm indicating a duration of time or a scene shift, so obviously this made me disgruntled, because now there were no separators. So I had to go back in and fix all my stories and instead put three periods (...) where the dashes used to be. I had been lazy with my Spiderwick Chronicles story, so last weekend I decided it'd be a good time to fix it.

(It should be noted that I wasn't aware of that huge line thing at the top of the toolbar at the time XD.)

Over the summer, I had to keep some of my "brainstorm pages" on my account because we didn't have Microsoft Word on our new computer at first. So there's about 10 documents sitting in my Document Manager right now that are filled with nothing but my stream of conscoiusness. When I got to Chapter 21, I copied and pasted the chapter into the document I wanted (a blank one specifically meant for revisions), made all the corrections needed, and saved it. Unfortunately, when I went to replace the revised Chapter 21 with the original, I accidentally selected the WRONG FILE NAME!

So StormBringer128 (bless you) brought to my attention that Chapter 21 now contained possible story ideas about the _Titanic_, among other brainstorms that were not supposed to be seen by the general public. I quickly realized my mistake and completely deleted Chapter 21 (not the smartest idea, I know...). But I had a new problem: Chapter 21 was now GONE. As in, after I thought I'd "reposted" it, I deleted its contents to make room for another chapter that needed to be fixed and reposted. Yes, I know, I'm so smart!

As of right now, I'm way too lazy to go in and retype everything (I know...I'm so admirable). I apologize profusely for that, but I've got school, and other stories to write. So, instead, I've gone in to Chapter 22 and included a Cliffnotes version of what happens in Chapter 21. I know, you can call me whatever terrible names you want...but, in my defense, at least I'm not leaving you guys hanging.

Thanks for understanding! :)

~Elphie


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